Paige Wyatt meets the Halliwells
by Daicy
Summary: Patty and Sam have a new daughter. Penny suggests that they give her to the church, but Patty and Sam decide on someone better suited to raise their daughter: a white lighter called Leo Wyatt. When Leo meets his new charges, the Halliwell sisters, Paige Wyatt's life changes forever. Will Leo and Piper still end up together? Will Paige find out her connection to the Halliwells? (AU)
1. Two Whitelighters, A Witch, and a Baby

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Charmed, or any of it's characters. No copyright intended.

Just to add, as I am going along the timeline of the actual episodes, at some points, there will be lines taken directly from episodes. These will be few and far between, keeping the majority of the fan fic as my own writing, otherwise it would be almost exactly the same which would be pointless. The point is: The few lines taken directly from the episodes are **not** mine, and if you have seen the episodes before you will recognise when lines from the original episodes are used and be able to tell them apart from the parts of the fan fiction that I have written myself. The only reason for using those lines is to imply whereabouts in the Charmed timeline the story is.

**A/N:** A new story. Quite different to my other Charmed fan fiction (_Mischarmed_). I hope you enjoy it. :) Also, you may or may not have noticed the chapter names. Basically, except for chapter one, I am naming the chapters by the episode that it is based alongside, but editing the title slightly as this is an AU, so Paige's presence as well as her being Leo's daughter, changes everything slightly.

* * *

**Chapter One: Two Whitelighters, A Witch, and a Baby  
**

Patty and Sam looked at their darling new born daughter.

'Isn't she precious?' said Patty, welling up. Her fourth daughter. She was joyful at having had another child, but her tears were also of pain. She did not want to give up her daughter.

'She looks so much like you, Patty,' said Sam.

'She looks a bit like Prudence did as a baby,' added Penny who had just walked into the room, closing the door.

'Are the girls fast asleep, mother?' asked Patty.

'Yes, and clueless that you have just given birth,' said Penny.

Patty let out a small laugh. 'Yes, of course. They just thought I had gotten a little fat.'

'Penny, are you really going to force us to abandon our child?' asked Sam.

'You cannot keep her, and you know it,' said Penny. 'If the Elders were to find out, then the destinies of Prudence, Piper and Phoebe could be ruined, and they could never harness the Power of Three.'

'I know, mother, but look at her. She is your fourth grandchild,' said Patty, holding the little baby up for Penny to see. 'Could you really see yourself living your life without her?'

'My heart is not made of stone,' said Penny sternly. 'We all have to suffer from the consequences of your falling in love with a white lighter.'

Penny glared at Sam. Sam was used to Penny's insults. She had often insulted him since she had found out about the relationship which had formed between himself and Patty.

'I understand, mother,' said Patty. 'Please, promise me, that you will never tell the girls that they have a little sister. It would only cause them to feel the loss which Sam, you and I will feel for the rest of our lives.'

'I will keep that promise, Patty,' said Penny. 'Now is time for you and Sam to take your daughter to the church and say your goodbyes.'

Sam and Patty nodded. With their child they orbed out of the bedroom.

Patty was still weak from giving birth, so Sam held Patty in his arms, while Patty was holding their child.

'So,' Sam said as they appeared around the corner of the street from the church. 'We are just going to give our daughter away to the church.'

'We have to,' said Patty. 'They can provide her with a good home. I have written a note to leave with her, asking for them to give her a name beginning with P, and to take good care of her.'

'Is it safe though?' said Sam. 'What if they find out about her powers? We do not know when she will get her powers. What if she gets them when she is little and they find out?'

'That has been a worry of mine too, but what other choice do we have?' asked Patty, clutching her baby.

'We could find someone magical to look after her,' said Sam.

'Then the Elders would find out about her,' said Patty.

'No,' said Sam. 'I have an idea. We make sure that a person who knows of magic finds her. That individual will not know who she belongs to or that she is magical herself. Therefore, they will be able to bring her up, and when she does gain her powers, the individual will be surprised, but they will already know that magic exists, so will not turn against our daughter in fear or anger.'

'Do you already have an idea of who you want to raise our daughter?' Patty asked Sam.

'Yes.' He nodded. 'I know of a white lighter. He was married before he died and became a white lighter and he never had children. I think that raising our daughter would be good for him.'

'Are you sure he will be good for our daughter though?' asked Patty.

Sam nodded. 'He used to be a doctor, so definitely knows how to care for people.'

'Do you know where to find him, Sam?' said Patty.

'You would rather us take her to this white lighter than to the church then?' said Sam.

Patty nodded, smiling. 'Just don't tell mother that we have done this. As far as she will ever know, our daughter will have been taken in by the church and then adopted by a loving family.'

Sam agreed. He helped Patty onto the ground and took hold of their daughter and Patty's note.

'How do you know this white lighter will not just turn her into the authorities?' asked Patty.

Sam scribbled something on the note and showed it to Patty, who read what he had added out loud. ''This little girl needs a white lighter to raise her. Do it well.' Do you think that will encourage him to keep and raise her?'

Sam nodded. 'He will know that whoever gave him the child knows of the magical world, so he will not give her away to the non-magical authorities, as he may suspect that she may be magical herself. However, as he is such a caring fellow, who has the passion of a father without a child, he will probably ask the Elders to let him raise her.'

Patty smiled. 'I hope that he does raise our little girl then.'

'Me too. I will be back in a few minutes to take you home,' said Sam.

He orbed out with their daughter.

Sam orbed onto a quiet street full of houses. He knew that the white lighter had taken up residence at one of these houses so as he could meet his new charge by playing the role of their new neighbour.

Sam approached the doorstep that he knew belonged to the white lighter and left the baby girl on the white lighter's doorstep. Sam rang the doorbell and orbed onto the other side of the street where he was shrouded in the shadow of a tree but could clearly see the white lighter's door.

The door opened and the white lighter looked around before seeing the baby girl. The white lighter read the note and looked around again to see if he could see who had left her but he could see no one. He picked up the baby, taking her inside and shutting the door.

A few minutes later, Sam orbed back to the street empty handed.

'Did you make sure that the white lighter found her and took her in?' asked Patty.

'I did,' said Sam, hugging Patty.

Sam orbed her home. Later that night in bed, Patty was unable to sleep. She looked round at Sam to see him lying wide awake too.

'I miss her so much,' she said.

'I miss her too,' said Sam. 'I hope that the white lighter I sent her to will be just as good a father as I would have been.'

'What is his name?' said Patty.

'The white lighter?' said Sam.

Patty nodded.

Sam told her. 'Leo Wyatt.'

* * *

On finding the baby and the note on his doorstep, Leo decided to go and see the Elders.

'Leo. What brings you before us?' said an Elder. 'And who is that human child you have with you?'

'I would like you to give some of my charges to other white lighters so I have less to work with for now,' said Leo.

'Why is that?' asked another Elder.

'This baby girl was left on my doorstep this evening,' Leo said.

'So?' said the first Elder. 'Take her to the authorities.'

'I can't,' said Leo. 'Whoever left her knows about magic. This child may be magical.'

'Then you should leave her with us to deal with and go back to your work on earth, Leo,' said a third Elder.

'I cannot sense whether she is magical or not, though,' said Leo. 'And I think she would be better left with me than in the hands of the Elders.'

'You do realise Leo that you are suggesting that you will raise this child by yourself while working as a white lighter?' said the second Elder.

'I do,' said Leo.

'And,' added the first Elder. 'You realise that although she will age, you will not?'

Leo nodded. 'I do not think that will be an issue. Whoever left her with me knew I was a white lighter so I do not think they would be against their daughter knowing about the existence of magic either. I will tell her what I am, and she will understand as she grows up why I do not age.'

The three Elders looked at one another before looking back at Leo.

'Leo,' said the third Elder. 'We shall allow you to keep the human child as your own. Although we shall cut down the number of charges we give you, you must not let her interfere with your work.'

'I won't,' said Leo.

'Then it is agreed,' said the Elders.

'What will you call her?' asked the second Elder.

Leo thought about it for a second. The note had asked for her name to begin with P. He looked down at the baby as he held her in his arms.

'She looks like a Paige,' he said. 'Her name is Paige.'

'Raise Paige Wyatt well, Leo,' said the third Elder.

'I will,' said Leo, smiling.

* * *

Twenty years had passed since that day. Paige had grown up knowing Leo's secret and about his job as a white lighter. Paige often made sure to keep away from Leo when he was working with a charge who thought Leo was just a handyman as it would have been awkward to explain why his daughter was such a close age to her father without letting the secret out.

Paige had not shown any signs of being magical since she had been born. Leo did not mind though. He knew that as long as Paige was normal no demons would go after her. In his day to day job as a white lighter he had to help so many witches, and always had nightmares of discovering his daughter was a witch and that demons were after her.

Like a doctor with his patients, Leo did not tell Paige who his charges were, as it was all strictly confidential. Paige understood the confidentiality but was often worried when her father was absent from their home for days.

Leo had only decided to buy a flat so as he could raise Paige in a stable environment. As Leo was not paid in his white lighter job, Paige had been paying for the flat and bills since she was seventeen. She had managed to get a job at a local firm as a secretary.

Leo sat down at the table one day with Paige. She was twenty now and they still lived in the same flat in San Francisco as they had when Leo first bought it.

'Paige,' began Leo. 'I have a new charge. Well, three new charges, actually.'

'Three?' asked Paige. 'That cannot be fair for the Elders to do that to you, dad. Why did they give you three at once?'

'They are three sisters. They are new to magic,' said Leo.

Paige did not reply. She expected the conversation to end there. Leo never told her about his charges. It was confidential so she was not usually allowed to know.

'I need your help,' said Leo. 'They live in San Francisco, like us. I am going to pretend to be their handyman soon.'

'Why do you need my help?' said Paige. 'Won't the Elders be mad you are telling me all this?'

'Well, the sisters are quite close to your age,' said Leo. 'The youngest is just a year older than you, so I was hoping you could make friends with the youngest or all three of them. It means that you will be able to keep an eye out for any demons and let me know, so as I can come and help them, just in case I am not there.'

Paige remained silent waiting for Leo to continue.

'You will have to pretend to not know me if you do see me when hanging out with them,' he said. 'And you cannot mention magic at all. You will have to act surprised if they decide to let you in on their secret, okay?'

Paige nodded. She was reluctant about lying to these people she had never met but agreed because she had always wanted to help save lives like her father did. Since she had shown no signs of being magical, she realised that this was going to be the closest to the magical world she would ever get.

'Just tell me who they are and where I may find them, dad,' said Paige, smiling.

'The eldest is Prudence Halliwell. Then there is Piper Halliwell. And the youngest is Phoebe Halliwell,' said Leo. 'You are best off going to a restaurant called Quake. You should be able to work out which one is Piper when you are there. She works there. You may even bump into Prudence and Phoebe as they often go there to see Piper.'

* * *

A week or so later after Leo had already entered the Halliwell's lives as their handyman, Paige found herself wandering into Quake.

She looked around the restaurant and it was full of people.

'How am I meant to know which one is Piper Halliwell?' she thought. 'How does dad expect me to know?'

Paige looked around from table to table. At one table there was a man sitting by himself. He was staring at a waitress. The waitress he was staring at was approaching another table with a glass in her hand. The waitress offered the glass to one of the three women at the table she had approached and pointed at the man at the other table. The woman shook her head and gave the glass back to the waitress. The waitress nodded and returned to the table with the man to give him the drink back.

The three women at the table had resumed their previous conversation. The three women at the table looked similar. They all had dark hair and had some similar features between them.

'Maybe these are the Halliwell sisters,' Paige thought.

The three women had finished their conversation. One of them got up and walked behind the bar, so obviously she worked there.

Paige approached the bar and smiled at the woman who she assumed was Piper.

'Hi,' said Paige. 'Can I order a drink?'

* * *

**A/N:** I hope the first chapter was good. I basically want to do an alternative universe where Leo is Paige's adopted father. Please review.


	2. Dream Sorcerer(AndTheMagicalCleanUpCrew)

**A/N:** As you may have noticed, the end of the last chapter was set in the episode _Dream Sorcerer_, and I am going to continue from there with this plot line. I am slightly annoyed that I had to start this after _Dead Man Dating_ as although I am a fan of the Piper-Leo relationship, I also think that Piper and Mark worked really well together. Thank you for the reviews so far! Please keep reviewing.

To the reviewer who was worried about Paige and Leo becoming a couple. There is **no way** I would ever do that. Firstly, they are like father and daughter to each other so they would never think any other way about each other. Secondly, I like to stick to the original pairings from the original show. (Hint hint, ;) who do you think Leo will end up with?) The only difference is the trials and dilemmas that occur in those couples forming.

* * *

**Chapter Two: The Dream Sorcerer (And The Magical Clean Up Crew)  
**

'Sure,' said Piper. 'What would you li...?'

Piper had paused when she saw Paige's face.

'Sorry. Do I know you from somewhere?' asked Piper. 'You look familiar.'

Paige was puzzled by this question. She thought for a second that maybe Piper had recognised a similar feature between Paige and Leo. Then she remembered that she was not actually related to Leo, so it could not be that.

'I don't think so,' said Paige.

'Are you sure we haven't met?' said Piper. 'You just look too familiar. Does the name Halliwell ring any bells?'

Paige shook her head. Obviously Paige was lying, as although she had never met the sisters before, Leo had told her a lot about their family history.

'Never mind,' said Piper. 'What would you like to drink?'

'A coke, please,' said Paige.

Piper turned around to sort out Paige's order.

'I should try and start a conversation,' thought Paige. 'Dad wants me to make friends with these girls, but how?'

Piper placed a glass of coke in front of Paige. 'That will be two fifty. Do you want that on a tab or pay now?'

'I will pay now,' said Paige. She pulled out her purse, wondering whether the Elders would reimburse her with any money she laid out towards helping with Leo's charges.

'Thank you,' said Piper, taking the money. 'Have a good day.'

'Do you own this place?' asked Paige.

'No,' said Piper. 'I only manage it, but sometimes it feels like I am the only one running it. My actual interests lie in cooking, but recently the world has decided to plan a completely different life for me to the one which I had set out for, so…'

Piper became a little lost in her thoughts. As Paige knew Piper's magical secret, Paige had a hunch that this was what Piper was alluding to, but as Piper did not know that Paige knew, Paige decided to act none the wiser.

'Don't worry, my job life is similarly not where I would like it to be,' said Paige.

Piper came back from her thoughts, listening to Paige. 'Why's that?' asked Piper.

'Well, I have had a secretarial position at a social work firm since I was seventeen,' said Paige. 'I have been there for three years now. When I started I only planned for it to be a way to earn money until I found my dream job, but I never got around to it.'

'Hmm…' said Piper. 'What is your dream job then?'

'That is what has had me stumped for so long now,' said Paige. 'I just do not know. I need to find my muse, my inspiration.'

Piper nodded.

On seeing that there were no other customers to be served at the bar, Piper decided to leave the bar area. She returned to the table where her two sisters still sat.

As Paige was sitting at the bar, drinking her coke, her back was to the table that the sisters sat at, and she did not want to turn around in case it looked like she was spying on them. She noticed that she could see the sisters sat at their table through a reflection caused by one of the glass cabinets behind the bar.

As Piper sat at the table and started chatting with her sisters, Paige could see Piper subtly point at Paige. Paige saw the other two sisters turn round and look at Paige before turning back. The sister that must have been Prue, because she looked like the eldest, shook her head, while the other sister, who Paige assumed was Phoebe, seemed to be trying to make a point about something.

Prue suddenly looked at her watch, realising the time. She stood up and left hurriedly. Piper went to speak to one of the waitresses on the restaurant floor. Phoebe suddenly stood up and walked in the direction of Paige.

Paige quickly drew her eyes away from the reflection back to her now empty glass. She heard the stool next to her move, and looked up to see Phoebe sitting at it.

'Hi there,' said Phoebe. 'I am Phoebe.'

Phoebe held out her hand, expecting Paige to shake it. Paige looked from Phoebe's face to her hand and then back to her face. Phoebe was smiling pleasantly at Paige but Paige could tell from Phoebe's eyes that she was after something.

Paige remembered one of Leo's warnings about meeting the sisters.

'Phoebe Halliwell has the power of premonition. At the touch of a person or an object, she can be thrown into a vision of the past or the future,' Leo had said. 'Therefore, do not allow any form of physical contact with her. She could easily find out my – no, sorry, our – secret if you give her the advantage of a premonition.'

Piper approached the bar by Phoebe. She looked angry.

'Phoebe!' she said through clenched teeth. 'Prue and I said no.'

Phoebe let her hand drop to her side as she turned to Piper.

'There is nothing wrong with trying to get a vision…' began Phoebe.

Piper interrupted Phoebe, worried that Paige would overhear.

'Sorry, Miss,' Piper said to Paige, thinking of a cover up in case Paige had overheard the beginning of Phoebe's sentence. 'When she says vision, she means she wants to get an idea of what your dream job would be. You know, an idea, that sort of vision.'

Paige smiled, trying to act unaware of the cover up Piper had just attempted. Paige realised suddenly that Phoebe's intentions of shaking her hand had been to try and prompt a premonition, possibly to find out why Paige looked so familiar to them. Although Paige would like that question answered too, she did not want to chance breaking Leo's cover by allowing Phoebe to have a premonition.

'You mentioned our little conversation to her?' asked Paige.

'Sorry,' said Piper quickly. 'My sister here is also looking for a job, so it sort of came up in conversation.'

Paige could tell that Piper felt really bad about having gossiped about Paige behind her back.

'That's okay,' said Paige. 'It's nice to get to know new people anyway. I have lived in San Francisco my whole life. I think it is about time I socialise with the locals.'

Phoebe laughed. 'Well, Piper, our older sister Prue – she just left for work – and I, all grew up here. So we are some locals you can socialise with. I wouldn't call myself much of a local though. I recently moved back from New York.'

'That's cool,' said Paige. 'I have done a bit of travelling myself, but I have never lived anywhere other than here.'

Paige thought of all the places that Leo had orbed her to. Often he had treated her, on birthdays, with quick trips abroad. Orbing meant no having to book a seat on a plane, and no long journey times, as well as no jetlag.

'So, you know our names now,' said Phoebe. 'What's yours?'

Piper noticed there had been a sudden influx of customers so had to leave Phoebe to talk to Paige alone. Before she left, Piper said to her little sister, 'Don't Phoebe.'

Paige realised this was in reference to the premonition thing, and Paige also realised that the sisters would be talking in code around her a lot from now on, if she were to become an integral part of their lives.

'The name's Paige Wy…,' said Paige. Paige suddenly remembered that she could not give them her last name. Leo had told her that they knew his, and 'Wyatt' was definitely not a common surname.

'The name's Paige. Why do you ask?' Paige repeated, readjusting the sentence a little.

Phoebe laughed. 'Why did I ask? That is a funny question. You really do need to get out more, Paige. When people socialise they do tell others their names.'

Paige smiled weakly. She hated lying, and she hated that she had to act dumber than she was just to cover things up. Then again, the sisters were also having to act dumb whenever they almost let slip about being witches, so Paige did not mind so much.

'Oops, yeah,' said Paige. 'So, you are after a job then?'

'Yeah,' said Phoebe. 'I have been looking for a local one since I got back from New York. Just last week I was a psychic in a hotel but I got fired.'

Paige smiled. She knew how she was going to become close with the Halliwells now. 'They are looking for another secretary at my firm,' said Paige. 'Give me a copy of your resume. I can hand it in to them and put in a good word for Phoebe Ha…'

Paige stopped. She forgot that Phoebe had not told her her last name yet. Turning 'Halliwell' into 'hang on', Paige completed her sentence.

'…for Phoebe. Hang on, what's your surname?'

'Halliwell,' said Phoebe.

'Then I shall put in a good word for Phoebe Halliwell,' said Paige smiling.

'Thank you so much!' said Phoebe. 'If you come by this address…'

Phoebe quickly scribbled down her address on a napkin.

'Come by this address in…' Phoebe stopped to think. 'Hmm… I need to change a few things on my resume first. That means getting a hold of the computer without getting killed by Prue… Hmm… Come by in a few days time and I will have it ready for you!'

'Sure,' Paige said, taking the napkin. 'That will give me a chance to put in a good word for you at work before they even see your resume. See you then, Phoebe Halliwell.'

Paige stood up to leave but Phoebe stopped her.

'I didn't catch your surname, Paige.'

'Er,' began Paige, thinking fast. 'It's Matthews. Paige Matthews.'

'Okay, then,' said Phoebe. 'I will see you in a few days, Paige Matthews. Thank you so much!'

'No problem,' Paige said.

Paige exited Quake. She was pretty sure that in the corner of her eye she had seen Phoebe pick up Paige's empty glass in an attempt to get a premonition.

Paige hoped that Phoebe had failed in trying to force a premonition. She now had to wait a few days to find out whether or not Phoebe had.

* * *

That day, Paige put in a good word for Phoebe at work, and told them that they would have her resume by the end of the week. On getting home, Paige spoke to Leo about her meeting with the Halliwells. However she did not mention that the Halliwells thought there was something familiar about her.

Leo smiled. 'Good work, Paige. Or should I say Miss Matthews?'

'Paige is fine, Dad,' said Paige in a harsh tone of voice.

Leo could tell that something was wrong.

'Paige, is there a reason why you chose that last name?' asked Leo.

'Yes. That is the name on my passport, Dad. That is the name my wages are paid by, and that is the name that people call me at work,' said Paige.

'Oh yeah,' said Leo. He often forgot that they had forged so many details for Paige so as she could go to school when she was little and so as she could get a job. They could never legally say he was her father, as legally Leo Wyatt had died during the war.

'It's just… I feel like I am lying to the Halliwells. No, I actually am lying to the Halliwells,' said Paige. 'Being called by my legal name just makes me feel even worse about it.'

'Paige,' said Leo. 'I am so sorry. You do not have to do this. You can just stop doing it now. I have some white lighter dust that I can use. I can make them forget all about you if you want to stop doing this.'

'No,' said Paige. 'I want to carry on.

Paige felt bad about lying to the Halliwell sisters. However, she wanted to find out why they thought she looked so familiar as much as they did. She did not tell Leo that this was her only reason for sticking with the job.

* * *

A few days later, Paige had been held behind at work with a stack of files to be completed. This was exactly the reason why the firm needed another secretary. She realised that it was getting quite late into the evening, but she hoped Phoebe would not mind her calling so late to pick up the resume.

Paige walked up the street towards the manor. A man was kicking the door in, and he was yelling at whoever was inside. He gained entry and disappeared from Paige's view.

Paige ran up to the manor and entered the foyer area. The man who had entered was stood frozen in front of Piper and Phoebe. A vase was frozen in the air between the sisters and the man. They stood trembling by the phone.

Phoebe shouted 'Prue! Prue! She's not there!' into the phone.

Noticing that the two sisters had not noticed her presence, Paige ducked round the corner into the living room. She wanted to hear what was going on, but she did not want them to have to try and explain to her a logical explanation for the man and vase. She felt it would not be fair for them.

'She's not answering,' Paige heard Phoebe say to Piper.

A crash was audible via the phone. The two sisters went silent, dropped the receiver and ran out of the hole where the door used to be. Paige heard a car start and then heard it screech as the sisters drove away at a fast pace.

Realising she was now alone in the house, Paige walked over to the frozen man and vase. She stared at him for a second.

'Hmm…' she thought. 'They could do with a clean up crew, while they go to check on their sister.'

'Dad!' Paige shouted. 'Dad! I could do with some assistance!'

Leo orbed into the manor.

'Paige?' Leo noticed the frozen man and the vase. Then he noticed the dismantled front door. 'Is everything okay?'

'I think Prue was just in an accident of some sort,' said Paige. 'They do not know I am here. I think they forgot about dealing with this guy.'

Leo nodded.

'Do you think he's a demon?' asked Paige. She had not had much experience of demons and warlocks. She had only heard about them from Leo.

'No,' he said. 'He's human. What I will do is orb this guy back to where ever he lives. Then when the sisters return, I can tell them that I noticed their door needed doing, and if they wonder about this guy, they will probably assume he unfroze and left before I came in.'

'When do you think he will unfreeze?' asked Paige.

'Hard to judge,' said Leo. 'He will soon, though. He might as well unfreeze in his own home.'

Leo removed the wallet from the man's trouser pocket, looked at his I.D. for an address. 'Hans…' he muttered to himself before orbing out with the man.

Paige grabbed the mid-air vase and put it down onto a table.

Leo reappeared by himself. 'You may as well go home, Paige.'

'I need Phoebe's resume, though,' said Paige.

Leo pointed over at the living room table. 'Is that it?' he asked.

Paige picked it up. 'It looks like it, but I can't just take it and leave.'

'Yes you can,' said Leo. 'I will say that you popped around for it and I found it and gave it to you.'

Paige nodded, and reluctantly left.

She stopped and turned around.

'When you see them, can you tell them I hope Prue gets well soon?' said Paige.

Leo shook his head. 'You are not supposed to know what has happened. Neither am I.'

Paige scowled and walked out.

She hated lying, she hated being secretive, she hated spying, she hated working under cover.

* * *

**A/N:** I did not realise I would manage to cover the _Dream Sorceror_ episode so vaguely, but I am glad not to have to go too closely with the episodes or I would just be rewriting them which is no fun. Obviously when I say I am going along with the plot of an episode I am only using parts of it to show where in the _Charmed_ timeline the characters are in relation to the story. Please review!


	3. Wedding From Hell (Plus Lots of Work)

**A/N:** As you may have noticed so far, although it is in third person, everything is told from Paige's point of view. Please read and review. Heads up, this chapter is running parallel with the episode _Wedding From Hell_. Paige will be more involved in this one than she was with the _Dream Sorcerer_ plot.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Wedding From Hell (Plus Lots and Lots of Work)**

Phoebe and Paige were fast becoming good friends. The social work firm had interviewed Phoebe and, along with Paige's good word, had decided to give Phoebe a job. As the firm's two secretaries, Phoebe and Paige often split the workload, spending eight hours a day together while working nine to five, Monday to Friday.

As the two women became closer, Phoebe often invited Paige around to the manor at the weekends. This was much to Piper's delight who also enjoyed seeing Paige. Piper enjoyed having a family friend who was not related to their magical life. From what Piper knew, Paige was not another witch, nor a demon, nor an innocent they had to save. To Piper, having Paige as a friend was a way to escape from their new fearsome life.

For some reason that Paige could not explain, she could sense this from Piper. Maybe it was a trick she had picked up from Leo. Leo could sense his charges. Once when Paige was little she had asked him to teach her. Although she had shown no signs of being magical, and the sense was part of a power that only white lighters possessed, Leo had seen no harm in trying to teach Paige about being a white lighter. Considering white lighters are all about being good, kind-hearted, loving, and calm, he had no problem spending time with Paige, getting her to meditate, and try and sense the people close by to her.

Paige pulled her car onto the Halliwell's driveway. It was a Friday morning. Since Prue did not trust Phoebe to use her car, Paige came to the manor every morning to take Phoebe to work and would always drive her home.

Paige knocked on the door. Prue opened it.

'Oh hi,' said Prue.

Prue was dressed in a dressing gown, and was obviously in the middle of getting ready for work. She opened the door wider so as Paige could enter.

'Phoebe! Paige is waiting for you!' Prue shouted. Then she ran up the stairs.

Paige decided she would wait for Phoebe while sitting on the bottom step of the staircase.

Unlike the other two sisters, Prue did not appear to like Paige's almost constant presence in their lives. Prue was not a horrible person. Paige knew that she just had to earn Prue's trust.

Leo had told Paige not to expect an immediate welcome from Prue while trying to work herself into the Halliwell's lives.

Leo had said, 'Prue is the eldest of the three sisters. She had to basically raise her younger sisters when their mother died, even though they had their Grams to look after them. Since they got their powers, Prue has had more responsibility shoved on her shoulders considering they risk their lives on a daily basis. Prue won't accept you until you can prove you are not a threat to her and her sisters.'

Paige looked at her watch, waiting for Phoebe. They had another half hour before they really needed to leave, without being late for work. Paige hoped Phoebe would not take too much longer to get ready.

'Piper, are you still in there?' Paige heard Prue shout from the upstairs landing.

Paige could not hear Piper's reply from the bottom of the staircase, but Prue responded to her little sister's reply.

'Define almost,' said Prue. 'You're positive?'

After another pause that must have included an unheard reply from Piper, Prue added, 'Piper, I cannot be late today.'

At that moment, Phoebe wandered out of the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs.

'Hey Paige,' Phoebe said.

'Hi there, stranger,' said Paige, standing up.

She looked at Phoebe and noticed Phoebe was still in her pyjamas.

'Er, Phoebe,' she said. 'It may be Friday, but it definitely is not a casual Friday at work today.'

Phoebe laughed. She went to hit Paige playfully on the shoulder as retaliation to Paige's not so funny joke. However, Paige stepped back to avoid the contact.

Over the last few weeks, every time Phoebe had gone to make any kind of contact with Paige, she had found a way to dodge Phoebe. Every time this happened, Paige hoped that she was not pushing Phoebe away. Paige always laughed at this thought. It was ironic that she would be _pushing_ someone away by avoiding contact, considering pushing someone in that context is not possible without contact. Unless, of course you are Prue; with telekinesis, you can push someone away without contact.

'But then… nevermind,' Paige heard Prue say from upstairs, pulling her back from her thoughts.

'I better go up there and see if I can nab the bathroom and get ready,' Phoebe said to Paige as she ran upstairs.

Paige sat back down on the step.

'Piper?' she heard Phoebe call.

After a pause Phoebe said, 'Is there any hot water left?'

Paige moved to the side of the stairs to allow Prue to pass her. Prue disappeared into the downstairs bathroom.

Paige heard Phoebe say, 'Not three mornings in a row, it isn't.'

Phoebe's comment was followed by the sound of a door opening.

A minute later, footsteps were audible coming down the stairs. Paige stood up, turned round and saw Piper walking down the stairs.

'Hi Paige,' said Piper. 'Phoebe's just gone for a shower. She shouldn't be too long.'

'Hello Piper,' said Paige. 'She better not be, we need to leave for work in the next fifteen minutes.'

Piper smiled. 'Want to come and wait in the kitchen? I could do with a hand in there. I am finishing up some appetisers for a wedding I am catering at today and tomorrow.'

'Sure,' said Paige. She followed Piper into the kitchen and sat at the table as Piper began removing a tray from the oven.

The phone rang just as Prue walked into the kitchen, looking dressed and ready for work.

As Piper's hands were full with the tray of food, Paige answered the phone.

'Hello?' said Paige. 'Yes, she's here.'

'Thank you,' said Piper to Paige, as she had had a chance to safely put the trays down and was now free to take the phone.

'Hello? Yes, this is Piper,' said Piper. She went quiet as she listened to the person at the other end.

'So how are you, Prue?' asked Paige, trying to strike up a conversation with the eldest Halliwell. She decided to try and add in a humorous compliment for Prue. 'If only Phoebe was as fast as you at getting ready for work.'

'Phoebe can be a little slow at times,' said Prue, not laughing. 'And we are trying to get used to having three people in the house again when there are only two bathrooms.'

Paige smiled at Prue weakly, wondering whether Prue was hinting that Paige was not welcome to stay a night if she ever asked as the manor was too full.

'If it helps, I could always try and take Phoebe off your hands by inviting her to stay around mine once in a while,' said Paige. 'That will give you more time and space.'

Prue shrugged. 'I think I can handle it. All I need is to organise a rota.'

Paige was starting to get a little annoyed at Prue's attitude. If it was not for Leo's voice ringing in her head, saying 'Be patient with Prue', she probably would have slapped Prue by now.

'Okay, thanks. Bye,' Piper said as she hung up the phone.

'The three of us definitely need to figure out some kind…' Prue began to say as she turned to Piper.

Paige did not hear the rest. She just sat at the table and closed her eyes. She had a short temper, not dissimilar to that of the eldest Halliwell. Therefore Paige was trying to zone out in order to calm herself down, a technique which Leo had taught her.

'I will if Paige does too,' Paige heard Phoebe say. Paige became aware of her surroundings again on hearing her name. She opened her eyes, not knowing how long she had zoned out for.

'What am I going to be doing, Pheebs?' asked Paige.

Prue was no longer in the kitchen. She had already left for work, and Phoebe stood by Piper, dressed ready for work. Piper was stood by Paige's chair and Phoebe was opposite Piper.

Phoebe laughed. 'If you are that unaware right now should I really trust you to drive me anywhere?'

Piper patted Paige on the shoulder. 'Trust me, it is still safer for you to drive than for Phoebe to drive.'

'Hey!' shouted Phoebe, throwing an appetiser at Piper.

Paige noticed Piper put her hands up to freeze the room. What had Leo said to do in this situation?

Leo had said, 'As I do not know whether you are in any way a magical being or not, there is no way to tell whether or not you will freeze in a room if Piper performs her power on you. If your parents were good witches, then you should be one, and therefore, not freeze. If your parents were any other magical being, or just human, then you will freeze. Now, if you see her put her hands like this…' Leo had paused to demonstrate the action. '… and see everything else freeze around you other than you and the sisters, then you are probably a good witch. Although that will be a nice revelation for me and you, we cannot have the sisters finding out you are one. Therefore, if you don't freeze, please pretend to be frozen. Okay, Paige?' Paige had agreed, doubting that she would actually ever turn out to be a witch.

Paige saw the appetiser freeze mid-air. Realising that she had not frozen, Paige quickly tried to not blink, sit still and hide her breathing. The latter was the most difficult as her heart rate had increased at the realisation that she must be a witch. She tried to calm herself a little by thinking of what powers she might yet discover she has.

'What are you doing?' shouted Phoebe. 'Why did you have to freeze Paige?'

'I am not losing appetisers because of you Phoebe!' shouted Piper. 'Especially now that Chef Moore has practically left me in charge! My neck is on the line! I cannot turn up to the wedding short on food!'

Piper picked the appetiser out of the air and placed it back on the tray. She made an action with her hands, and Paige decided that she could pretend to unfreeze now.

'So what am I expected to do, Pheebs?' Paige asked again.

'Piper wants me to help cater at the wedding tomorrow,' said Phoebe. 'Piper is going to pay us ten bucks an hour. How's that sound?'

'Sure,' said Paige with a smile. 'It might get me one step closer to figuring out my dream job!'

'Thank you so much,' said Piper, more to Paige than to Phoebe.

'No problem,' said Phoebe and Paige together.

'Okay. Here's a list of supplies I need,' said Piper. 'I'll go to the Spencer Estate and you can meet me there at one o'clock.'

'Er, me and Paige have a job remember?' said Phoebe. 'We cannot help out today.'

'Then get those supplies and meet me there after you have finished work today, okay?' said Piper.

Paige and Phoebe nodded.

'We will get them during our lunch hour,' said Paige.

'You and Prue were really just talking about a wedding?' said Phoebe to Piper.

'Yeah, what did you think we were talking about?' asked Piper.

'Jeremy and his aftermath. You know, you slept with him.'

'Don't ever mention that man's name again. It is over. He's in demon hell. End of story,' said Piper, editing what she was saying slightly as Paige was in the room. 'Wedding yes, ex-boyfriends no. Am I clear? Good, because there is nothing in me that wants anything to do with Jeremy ever again.'

'Bad break up?' asked Paige. 'Wishing he was sent to demonic hell, were you?'

Usually Paige did not like sitting through awkward explanations as the sisters tried to come up with logical excuses to hide magical causes. However, in this case, she wanted to see if she could find out more about Piper's warlock ex.

'Yeah, it was a bad break up,' said Phoebe. 'He never loved Piper, and was just using her.'

Paige read between the lines of this explanation, so instead understood the true meaning as 'He never loved Piper because he turned out to be a warlock. He was only using her to kill us and get our powers.'

Phoebe went to pick up another appetiser from the tray as Piper left the kitchen.

'Don't touch those!' shouted Piper from the other room.

Paige looked at her watch. The latest time they should have left was now twenty minutes ago. She realised she must have zoned out for a while earlier.

'We better run, Phoebe,' said Paige. 'The less late we are the better.'

The two women ran for the door and left the manor.

* * *

After a hectic morning in the office, Paige and Phoebe finally left for their lunch break.

'This is a long list,' said Paige. 'We better start now and maybe skip lunch for today.'

'Okay,' said Phoebe. 'Do you mind if I phone Prue quickly? I need to talk to her about something. Just some family business.'

Paige nodded. It was obviously something witchy, so Paige did not want to stand in the way. If Paige's day was not going to be as busy as it already was, she would have called for Leo already to talk to him about the fact that she had discovered she was a witch. However, she had to push that to the back of her mind for now.

She looked at the supply list again, thinking about where she could get hold of some of the items Piper needed.

Phoebe was pacing back and forth in the corner of their office reception, so Paige heard fragments of Phoebe's end of the phone conversation which included things like:

'Okay, I'm not pregnant… I think I still have two more minutes. FYI, you have another sister who has had sex… if you won't believe me, you can believe my power…'

After a few more minutes, Phoebe hung up and smiled at Paige. 'All sorted,' she said, unable to wipe her worry from her face.

'Are you sure?' said Paige, concerned for Phoebe.

'Yeah, I am fine,' she said. 'Just a little family problem. Nothing serious. Let's get this list tackled.'

* * *

Less than an hour later, Phoebe and Paige returned to work, Paige's car full of supplies which they would take to Piper after they had finished their working day.

After work, Phoebe and Paige walked into the kitchen of Spencer house to find Piper running up to a security guard.

'He's after the bride upstairs,' Piper said to the security guard.

This was followed by a smash outside.

Phoebe and Paige dropped their bags of supplies and followed Piper and the security guard outside to find a priests body lying on the driveway.

* * *

**A/N: **I was wondering where to end the chapter. Here seems good. Even though it is not too much of a cliff hanger considering as a _Charmed_ fan, most readers would have seen the canon version of _Wedding From Hell_ so the priest dying should not be a surprise. How do you think Paige will react as this is the first death she has been faced with? Remember this Paige was never involved in the car crash where her adoptive parents died, as she never was adopted by them.

I am sorry if you do not like how I wrote Prue's personality in this chapter. I did not like it either. I am basing this slightly off of Piper's reaction to Paige's appearance in season four. It just seems right that Prue should be protective of her sisters as to not trust Paige yet. Prue will warm up to Paige though over the next few chapters!

Plus, I almost forgot to say: In the next chapter, Paige is going to bump into an old friend from a family that like the Halliwells has included many generations of magic and witches. However, I am drawing a blank as to what surname to give them. If you can think up a good surname, feel free to suggest it in your chapter review. I may end up using it. :)


	4. Wedding From Hell (PlusSomeNosyWitches)

**A/N: **Prue and Paige get a chance to talk about their differences in this chapter. So hopefully, I can make Prue's character more likeable.

Thanks to **Lizardmomma**, for the surname suggestion. I did not go with it, but I did like the 'Str' beginning. You will see what I decided on using as their surname. :)

* * *

**Chapter Four: Wedding From Hell (Plus Some Nosy Witches)**

'Oh no,' Paige thought. This was the first dead human body she had ever seen and she did not think she could stand looking at it.

Paige ran away from the scene that the house staff were now gathering around, shouting 'Dad! Dad!'

As she ran around a corner of the building into a secluded area, Leo appeared. She ran straight into Leo and he held her to try and calm her down.

'Paige?' Leo asked, seeing her tear-stained face. 'What's wrong?'

'You know what is wrong!' Paige shouted. 'Why does that man have to die? Go and heal him now!'

Leo shook his head, looking serious. 'I can't, Paige. I'm sorry.'

'Why?' shouted Paige. Tears continued to run down her cheeks.

'Paige, that priest is already dead. You know I cannot heal someone once they have died,' said Leo. 'Also, he is not the innocent that the sisters are supposed to be protecting.'

'So? What difference does that make?' shouted Paige, pushing Leo away in anger. 'Just because he is not their innocent that does not make him some extra on a television show that can be killed off whenever necessary!'

'Paige…' said Leo, unable to think of anything calming to say to his daughter. 'What can I say to you? Maybe you shouldn't do this anymore?'

'No, I am going to continue,' said Paige, sniffing and wiping the tears from her face. She had finished crying now and had made up her mind. 'In future, you are going to tell me who the sisters' innocents are. That includes this time too. That way I can subtly direct them towards their innocents faster so as less bystanders have to die!'

Leo listened, thought about it for a second, and then nodded. 'Sure,' said Leo. 'Okay. The sisters' innocents are Elliot and Allison.'

Paige nodded. 'And who is the bad guy?'

'Paige?'

'Surely the Elders know who the bad guy is in this situation?' explained Paige. 'You know, who is the demon? The warlock?'

Leo sighed. 'Yes, the Elders know. The demon is called Hecate. The Elders believe that she is the new bride at this wedding. Her plans appear to be to use Elliot to conceive a demon child who looks human on the outside but as a Spencer, this baby will be born into a wealthy, influential family so the demon child could lead a powerful life.'

'If the Elders know all this,' said Paige, kicking at a tree. 'Why do they not just tell the sisters this?'

'The Halliwell sisters have to learn to do this without help,' said Leo. 'The Elders and I are only here to help with guiding them and helping them when help is really needed.'

Paige shook her head. 'A man just died out there because you have not told the Halliwells anything! I am going to go and tell the sisters everything right now, so as they can make sure no one else dies!'

'No Paige,' said Leo sternly. 'I won't let you.'

'Paige?' Leo and Paige turned to see where Phoebe's voice had come from. Phoebe was obviously approaching from round the corner but had not found them or come into view yet.

Paige smiled. 'Just who I wanted to go and look for,' she said quietly to Leo.

Paige turned to run round the corner to greet Phoebe and tell her everything. Leo grabbed Paige's shoulder from behind and before she could shout, he had already orbed her into their flat's living room.

'Dad!' shouted Paige. 'Take me back there now!'

'I won't,' said Leo. 'You can continue helping the sisters tomorrow at the wedding, once you have calmed down and realised how stupid you are acting right now. You will come to your senses and know that you won't reveal our secrets to them.'

Leo orbed out before Paige could shout at him.

'My car is still at Spencer house!' she shouted into thin air. 'How do you expect me to get there tomorrow?'

Paige sat in a huff on her sofa.

'Did your dad forget to say you had a visitor?'

Paige looked around to see an old friend.

'Isobel!' shouted Paige, running up to the twenty-something blonde haired woman.

Leo had always had many charges. One of his more long term charges was a family of witches. Since the family had always been magical, and Leo had been their white lighter for many generations, the family knew what Leo was. This family had the last name Stratton. The Stratton's resided in New York.

When Paige became part of Leo's life, he had remembered that the Stratton family had just had twins, who would therefore be around the same age as Paige. Therefore whenever Leo had to be absent for a while due to his line of work, the Stratton family were happy enough to look after Paige for him. She would spend time with the twins, Isobel and Wilson. Therefore, Paige and Isobel had become childhood friends. Wilson and Paige were currently in the middle of a long distance relationship as he had taken up some research over the last few years while teaching at the magic school.

'What brings you here?' Paige asked, happy to see her good old friend. This was someone she knew she could be honest around.

'I have not seen you for ages, Paige,' said Isobel. 'I thought we could do with a good catch up.'

Paige nodded.

'Leo was telling me that you are helping out with his new charges,' said Isobel. 'Did he tell you that he made me play a role in all this?'

'No,' said Paige, frowning. 'What did he ask for you to do?'

'Well, a few months ago, he approached me saying that a young witch had been living in New York for a little while, but that she knew nothing about her _magical_ family history. She did not know she was a witch,' began Isobel. 'Leo told me to give her a turn of bad luck, so she would be forced to return to San Francisco, where she would be reunited with her sisters and they would be able to gain their powers.'

'Dad told you to cause her problems?' said Paige. That did not sound like something Leo would normally do.

'Yes,' Isobel hesitated. 'I did not like the plan either. When I argued, Leo just told me it was important that I get the girl to go back to San Francisco because the Charmed Ones needed to be formed.'

'The young witch,' said Paige. 'That was Phoebe, right?'

Isobel nodded. 'Yes, Phoebe Halliwell.'

'So how did you do it? How did you make her leave New York?'

Isobel shook her head. 'Something I never want to do again. I cursed Phoebe. It was only a temporary curse. Your dad knows that I am good with my curses. You remember when I went through my rebellious phase in high school, and I loved cursing anyone who got on my nerves?'

Paige nodded, managing a smile, as she remembered some of the funny curses that Isobel had done on people.

'So I cursed Phoebe,' said Isobel, feeling guilty. 'I made it impossible for her to earn any money. She lost her job, and then was unable to find another one. Bills started appearing in her flat, like magic. And soon Phoebe was forced to sell her flat and go back to San Francisco.'

'How did she sell her flat if the curse would not let her earn money?' asked Paige.

Isobel's frown deepened. 'Okay, well when I said 'she sold her flat', I meant that it got repossessed. She must have used the little money she had left to catch a flight back to San Francisco.'

The two women went silent. Isobel was obviously not proud of the part she had played in bringing about the Charmed Ones, and Paige was not going to let it dwell on Isobel's mind much longer.

'Isobel, can I tell you something? A secret?' said Paige.

'Sure,' said Isobel.

'You cannot tell my dad,' said Paige.

Isobel nodded.

'I found out this morning, that I am a witch. Don't ask how. I just know that I am,' said Paige. She added, 'Oh, and no, I do not know what my powers are yet, before you ask.'

Isobel's eyes widened in delight. 'This is fantastic news! Why do you not want Leo to know?'

'He protects witches from demons and warlocks on a daily basis,' said Paige. 'I don't think he would let me leave the confines of this house if he found out I was a witch.'

Isobel nodded. 'I understand your reasoning and I promise not to tell anyone, but you will have to tell him at some point.'

Paige looked down. She knew that.

'So,' said Isobel, changing the topic again. 'What is it like being a white lighter's apprentice? How are your charges?'

'Terrible,' said Paige. 'Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. I saw someone die today.'

Isobel hugged Paige, trying to comfort her. 'A good witch's life is tough, Paige. Was this man their innocent?'

'No,' said Paige. 'That should not make it any less worse! He still died!'

'Yes,' said Isobel. 'I know. Being a good witch does have it's moral dilemmas, Paige. Sometimes people have to die in order to protect others.'

'You cannot say that!' shouted Paige. 'I cannot let more people die around me while looking out for the Halliwells!'

Isobel nodded. 'Want to make some potions right now then? That way if you see someone in trouble, you can have a way of trying to protect them?'

Paige smiled. 'Thank you,' she said to her amazing friend.

'No problem,' said Isobel as the two witches wandered into the kitchen.

* * *

After an hour they had produced invisibility potions, non-specific demon vanquish potions, body switch potions, levitation potions. You name it, that's what they made. They had made such an assortment of potions.

In the process of making one of the potions, their pot had over boiled melting the phone which had sat on the kitchen surface.

Now Paige felt she could help more behind the scenes whilst being undercover in the Halliwells' lives.

The doorbell rang.

'Were you expecting anyone?' Isobel asked Paige as they left the kitchen, shutting the door behind them.

Paige shook her head. 'Were you? Could it be Wilson?'

Isobel replied, 'No, I wasn't. And I have had no contact with Wilson for a while. His research involved some field work in the underworld. And he has already been gone a month.'

'Is he okay? Why did no one tell me?' said Paige, worried.

'Don't worry,' said Isobel. 'He was prepared for the journey and he did not go alone. He did warn us that he would not be able to contact us while he was there, and that he may be gone for as long as a year.'

'Why did he not tell me?' said Paige.

'He did not want you to worry,' said Isobel.

The doorbell rang again.

Paige opened the door ajar. Prue was standing on the doorstep.

On seeing Paige, Prue said, 'Paige! Can I come in? We need to talk.'

Paige opened the door to let Prue in, unsure as to what the eldest Halliwell wanted to discuss.

Prue saw Isobel standing behind Paige.

Isobel smiled at Prue, and then said, 'I better be off now, Paige. I will let you know when Wilson comes back. Take care, bye.'

'Bye,' said Paige, as Isobel walked out the front door and Paige closed it.

'Sit down, Prue,' Paige said gesturing to the sofa.

Prue sat down and looked towards the closed kitchen door. Paige suddenly noticed that the potion production had caused a funny smell to waft into the living room.

'Er, my friend and I were just doing some cooking. We are not very good at it, as you may be able to tell by the smell,' said Paige hurriedly. She found it strange trying to cover up magic in front of a Halliwell, when that is exactly what she was used to watching a Halliwell do in front of her.

'That's okay,' said Prue. Then she added sarcastically, 'It's not like you were supposed to be working with my sisters at a wedding today.'

'Oh, that…' said Paige, suddenly remembering that she had basically ditched Phoebe there. 'How did you know I was here?'

'I got a call from Phoebe saying to pop by your house after work, because she had been trying to phone you all evening. Apparently, when the… the death occurred, you ran off shouting for your dad, and left your car behind. Oh, and don't worry about how Phoebe got home. Luckily Piper had come in her car, so she drove Phoebe back with her.'

'Hang on,' said Paige. 'My phone has not gone off all evening. Are you sure she rang here? Oh. Oh yeah, my phone kind of broke, this afternoon…'

Prue nodded, not looking particularly impressed at Paige's explanations.

'Er, Prue, I freaked out when that death occurred. I just had to get away,' said Paige, partially telling the truth, but also partially lying. 'I found myself back here, and then my childhood friend turned up and she was able to take my mind off of the shock.'

Paige began to well up. She was still annoyed that she nor the sisters nor Leo could save the poor man.

Prue pulled Paige into a hug. This caught Paige by surprise considering Prue had not previously been as nice to her before as she was now.

Prue released Paige and said, 'Cheer up, okay? I wish my sisters had not been there today either. I feel bad for not being there for them, but I will be there for them tonight…'

Paige nodded. 'I shouldn't have left them. They are my friends… I just… I did want to stay…' said Paige.

'It's okay, Paige,' said Prue. 'That is not what I originally was coming here to talk to you about anyway.'

'It wasn't?' said Paige surprised. 'You mean you were going to come and see me before Phoebe phoned you?'

Prue nodded.

'When my sisters first met you, they had a feeling that you were connected to us somehow,' Prue began. 'There is just something so familiar about you. And then Piper and Phoebe became friends with you. And you have basically been at the manor at least an hour a day since.'

'Sorry about that,' said Paige. 'If it bothers you so much, I will not turn up so much. It's just you know, I pick Phoebe up to go to work. And then Phoebe often invites me around at the weekend, but I can ask her round here instead if you would rather?'

Prue shook her head. 'No, you are welcome around ours anytime. I was not complaining about that. What I was trying to say was, you have been coming around so often now, and I have not been very pleasant towards you.'

'Prue, don't threat. I hardly noticed that,' Paige lied. 'Besides, I understand that you have been busy with work, and I am just an annoying friend of your little sisters.'

'No,' said Prue. 'I want you to know that the only reason I was being cold towards you was because I am very protective of my little sisters.'

'I am cool with that, Prue,' said Paige, truthfully. 'I understand. If I had siblings, and they were all younger than me, then I would be the same when a stranger comes into their lives.'

Prue smiled. 'Thanks for understanding. I just don't want you to think I am cold hearted and bitter.'

'Well, actually, Prue. From what I have heard about you from Piper and Phoebe, coming over here to apologise seems very out of character,' said Paige. Paige did not want it to sound like an insult, so added, 'You seem to be a person of great pride.'

Prue laughed. 'Well, a certain sister may have persuaded me into doing this, but what I have just told you is all true and from my heart.'

Paige beamed. She could not believe the most stubborn Halliwell, the eldest Halliwell, was finally opening up to her.

'Thank you,' said Paige. 'This means a lot to me. You talking to me like this.'

Prue smiled too. 'Well, after what you witnessed today, I thought you might need some sisterly advice too, like I gave my sisters after finding out the main drama of the day. And obviously, you have no sisters to seek counsel from.'

'Thank you, Prue,' said Paige.

'Thanks for what?' said Prue. 'I noticed I was too late to provide you with sisterly wisdom, considering your friend had beaten me to it.'

The two women laughed.

'So is Wilson someone special?' Prue asked. Paige realised Isobel had mentioned Wilson in front of Prue.

'Yes,' said Paige. 'The woman you saw leaving here. Wilson is her twin brother. Wilson is my boyfriend. It is all long distance at the moment. He is travelling as part of his research. He is working as a professor at a school, while doing this research, but his research has recently led him onto doing some fieldwork.'

'You miss him, don't you?' said Prue.

Paige nodded. 'Yeah. It has been a while since we saw each other. And I only just found out today that he has gone off to do fieldwork. He could be there for up to a year, and it is not somewhere where he can contact me or anyone else!'

Prue said, 'Where has he gone? To the middle of an uninhabited forest?'

'Into some deep deep caves,' said Paige. To change the topic, Paige said, 'Phoebe has told me you and Andy are dating.'

'Well, I would not exactly call us a couple yet,' said Prue. 'We have not had a successful date, yet.'

'Prue, just tell me the next time that you plan a date with Andy, and I will make sure it goes perfect for you,' said Paige.

'Is that code for: you will get rid of my sisters that evening so as I can see Andy in peace?'

'Maybe,' said Paige. They both laughed.

Paige's clock struck ten.

'Is it ten already?' said Prue, looking at her own watch.

'Yeah,' said Paige. 'Do you need to be somewhere?'

'There is something I had to do with Piper and Phoebe,' said Prue. 'They are probably on their way there already. I have got to run, bye!'

Prue ran off, almost forgetting to shut Paige's front door behind her.

Paige was happy to have had a heart-to-heart with Prue. However she was also glad that Prue had left. Paige returned to the kitchen, and placed the potion bottles into her satchel, slung her satchel over her shoulder, and walked out her front door.

Remembering she had no car, Paige rooted through the satchel for a teleportation potion that Isobel had given Paige and threw it on the ground.

* * *

Once the smoke around her cleared, Paige found herself standing on the flat roof of one of the Spencer House rooms. The room she stood on was surrounded by a woody area. She was exactly where she had planned to go. Below her the demon bride's hen party was taking place, and Paige wanted to gate crash the hen party.

Paige found a skylight that looked down into the room where the hen party was taking place. She removed a bottle of invisibility potion from her satchel and drank it down in one gulp. Paige could still see herself, her clothes, and her satchel, but felt a warmth, that according to the recipe she and Isobel had followed, would suggest the potion had taken effect.

'Now I can see them, but they will not be able to see me if they look upwards,' she thought happily.

Jade, the demon bride, was sitting on her bed, opening up her presents, surrounded by her bridesmaids.

There was suddenly a rustling in the woods. Paige looked away from the skylight to see Prue, Piper, and Phoebe on the ground sneaking up to the ground window.

'So that is why Prue was in such a rush to leave,' Paige thought. 'The Halliwells must have found out about Jade too.'

Paige was relieved. She hoped that the Charmed Ones were preparing to vanquish Hecate there and then. That would stop anymore unnecessary deaths from going on.

Paige looked back down through the skylight. She could hear both the occupants of the room and the Halliwells from where she hid.

Jade was holding up some lingerie. 'This should make his assets rise.'

Her bridesmaids all giggled.

'Looks like a normal bachelorette party to me,' Paige heard Prue say, followed very quickly by Piper saying, 'I don't believe it. They've barely touched my food.'

'Piper...' she heard Prue reply.

'Those deli trays took hours,' moaned Piper.

One of the bridesmaids picked up a fertility artefact, and said, 'And you know who this is from. They understand how important it is for you to get pregnant right away.' She gave it to Jade.

'Hey, I know that piece, it's from the Auction House,' said Prue.

Paige did not hear a knock on the door from where she hid, but there presumably was one, as Jade said 'Come in' followed by the entry of a pizza delivery guy with a pizza.

'Hi. Pizza delivery,' said the pizza delivery guy.

'They ordered pizza?' Paige heard Piper say in disbelief.

It became clear that the pizza delivery guy was in fact a stripper as he removed a radio from his bag and began to strip in front of his audience.

'Oh okay. Now I feel better,' Piper was heard saying.

'Mmm, he looks good enough to eat,' said a bridesmaid, followed by a 'Good idea' from Jade.

The bride and bridesmaids began tearing the stripper apart.

'Why aren't the sisters doing anything to help?' thought Paige. She ran to the edge of the roof to see what the sisters were doing. They had left!

Paige could not believe that the sisters would leave the stripper to die. She smashed the sky light open with her hand, followed by heavy cursing, and jumped into the room.

'Who's there?' shouted Jade. Jade and the bridesmaids were all looking around the room, braced for action. They could not see who had smashed the sky light though as Paige was still invisible.

The stripper was lying hurt on the bed, but he was still breathing. Paige threw a teleportation potion at the bed, and the stripper disappeared. The stripper would have been teleported back to her house. Hopefully, Leo would be home and therefore heal the stripper on seeing him appear out of nowhere.

Paige turned around to see that throwing the potion had given away her position to the bride and bridesmaids. Although they could not see her, they had her cornered.

'We know you are there, whoever you are,' said Jade. 'And seeing as you just took away our meal, we might as well have you instead.'

* * *

**A/N:** Longer than my usual chapters. I have always found it so annoying that the sisters do not even attempt to save the poor guy in that episode, so as Paige in this fan fiction is like an outside observer, I think it seemed in character for her to express such a view, and take such an action. Please review.


	5. Wedding From Hell (AndIt'sVanquishTime)

**A/N: **Hopefully I will having _Wedding From Hell_ finished with by the end of this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Wedding From Hell (And It's Vanquish Time)**

Paige was cornered, and she did not have a clue what to do. She knew she was a witch, but she did not know what her powers were. She did not want to start rummaging through her satchel for a helpful potion, as she was worried the clinking of the glass potion bottles would help the demons zone in on exactly where she stood.

'We know you are there, witch!' said Jade. 'We may be unable to see you, but…' Jade paused as she sneered wickedly. 'You are wounded. Your blood gives you away.'

'Wounded?' Paige thought. She looked down at her left hand. The hand she had used to smash open the skylight was dripping with blood. She had forgotten about it since her fear of being killed by the demons had overridden her feelings of pain.

Jade and her bridesmaids were looking more or less directly at Paige now.

Paige suddenly remembered one of the setbacks of using an invisibility potion. It would turn the user invisible, but if that user became wounded, although the user would be invisible any blood that left their body was not.

'Oh crap,' thought Paige.

Jade and her bridesmaids were closing in around Paige now. Paige closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to start.

She heard the smashing of glass and opened her eyes. Jade and the bridesmaids were all facing the window that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe had all been snooping through just ten minutes earlier.

The aforementioned window was now broken to pieces and Prue stood just outside staring at the demons.

'Hi there,' Prue said nonchalantly. 'I hope you don't mind if I crash your bachelorette party, do you?'

Prue had used her telekinesis to break the glass of the window into pieces.

Paige gave a sigh of relief. Prue was back. And now Paige would not have to face the demons alone, even if Prue did not know that Paige was there.

'Girls, look for the invisible witch,' said Jade. 'I'll take this one.'

'Oh?' said Prue. 'I am not your first gate crasher?'

Prue noticed that the floor was covered in glass not just from her point of entrance but also from the broken skylight above.

'Don't worry,' said Jade. 'You may not be our first, but we will make it a memorable night for the both of you!'

Jade lunged at Prue, attempting to scratch her. Prue squinted at Jade and sent her flying into the other bridesmaids.

'Sorry if I knocked them into you!' Prue shouted, looking around for the aforementioned invisible witch who she was apologising to.

It was confirmed that the blood dripping from Paige's hand was visible as Prue's eyes located Paige's whereabouts in the room.

'Thank you, whoever, you are for saving the stripper,' said Prue.

Paige nodded, knowing her voice could give away her identity if she said anything. Then she remembered Prue would not be able to see her nod anyway.

Jade stood up from among the pile of bridesmaids.

'Witch, you are really getting on my nerves!'

Prue smiled. 'Well, I can put an end to that by vanquishing you.'

Prue squinted at her bag which she had left lying outside on the grass, and a poingnard came flying into the room, heading straight towards Jade.

A demon bridesmaid intercepted the poingnard, and disintegrated into flames and then ashes.

Jade picked up the poingnard before Prue could redirect it at Jade again with her mind.

'How are you going to vanquish me without this?' said Jade cackling. Her cackle was echoed by her remaining bridesmaids.

Jade began chanting a curse. Clouds were forming above them on the ceiling of the room. A lightening bolt struck, hitting the ground near Prue's feet, missing Prue by inches. Prue fell to the ground in surprise.

'That bolt was just a warning. The next one will be aimed directly at you, witch. And it only needs to strike you once!' shouted Jade. 'And you cannot control the path of the lightening with your powers, so you are dead.'

Paige could not just stand there and do nothing. Jade had seemed to have forgotten about Paige's invisible presence in the room. Paige ran forward and, with her wounded left hand, snatched the poingnard out of Jade's hand.

The sudden movement of the poingnard caused Jade to lose focus, so the second bolt of lightening also missed Prue by inches.

Paige grabbed Prue by the shoulder, pulling her out of the room, as she ran with the poingnard to the safety and shelter of the woods.

'You better run, you witches!' shouted Jade through the open window. 'If I see you at my wedding tomorrow, I won't let you get away alive!'

As Prue and Paige reached a clearing in the woods where Prue's car was parked, Paige handed Prue the poingnard.

Prue took the floating poingnard, realising that the invisible person was offering it to her.

'Who are you?' said Prue, as she wiped Paige's blood from the handle.

Paige did not answer. She just rummaged through her satchel, found a teleportation potion and threw it at the ground, leaving Prue behind to wonder what had happened.

On finding herself back at home, Paige ran past a concerned Leo into her room. She did not feel like explaining the evening's event to him right now. The stripper was nowhere to be seen, so she assumed Leo had dealt with him.

On locking her bedroom door, Paige stood in front of her mirror. She had no reflection, so the potion was still in full effect. She drank a reversal potion and felt a sudden shiver as the potion wore off. Her reflection appeared in the mirror.

* * *

The next morning, after making sure Leo had already left for work, Paige got up, and made her way by bus to Halliwell manor. She knew she had to help them cater the wedding still. She also knew that like her, the Halliwell's would have another motive for being at the wedding.

Paige found the front door of the manor slightly ajar so entered without knocking. She approached the conservatory quietly where she could hear the sisters discussing something. They were discussing their plan of action for the wedding.

'The Book of Shadows says the spell can be broken by a declaration of love with a sealed kiss,' Prue was saying.

'It's so romantic. Just like a fairy tale,' said Piper. 'And once Elliot is out of her spell, Jade's out of luck, no wedding, no honeymoon night.'

'No honeymoon, no sex and no sex, no monster child spending alternate weekends with daddy,' said Prue.

'I still say we rely on our Power of Three thing and ix-nay the monster bride and her carnivorous bridesmaids,' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, we're supposed to help people, not harm them,' said Piper.

'And that's exactly what we're going to do,' said Prue. 'You two will get Elliot, I'll get Allison, and we'll meet at the front gate no later than two thirty. Everybody have their weapons?'

Piper picked up her phone, so did Prue, and Phoebe picked up the poingnard. Prue took the poingnard from Phoebe.

'I'll take that,' said Prue.

Before Prue could continue, Paige made her presence known to the sisters. Prue quickly squinted at a cushion so as it moved closer to her, and she was therefore able to hide the poingnard behind it.

'Hi, Paige,' said Prue. 'What are you doing here?'

'Sorry, the front door was open,' said Paige.

Both elder Halliwell sisters glared at Phoebe. 'Don't look at me!' said Phoebe. 'I was not the last one to come home last night! Prue came back in a separate car but still somehow managed to take an hour longer than us, remember?'

Paige suddenly realised that Prue had not told her sisters that she had gone back to attack the demons. Prue had wanted to try and vanquish Jade by herself, possibly in an attempt to keep her sisters out of harm's way.

'Anyway,' continued Paige. 'Should we be getting to the wedding now? I know I left yesterday but I am ready to continue helping you with the catering. I just need a lift as I kind of left my car there.'

'Sure,' said Piper and Phoebe. The two sisters stood up.

Piper turned to Prue. 'We will see you at two thirty.'

Prue nodded. 'See you then. I will just go and have a shower while I wait for Allison to show.'

Piper and Phoebe left the conservatory. Phoebe was mumbling about Prue stealing the hot water, as the two younger Halliwells headed for Piper's car. Paige turned to leave too, but she heard Prue say something.

'Paige.'

Paige turned to see why Prue had said her name. Prue's eyes were on Paige's left hand. Paige had bandaged it after the events of the night before. Prue's eyes widened.

'Paige…' Prue said, looking up at Paige's eyes.

Worried that Prue had just made a connection between Paige's hand and the incident of the night before, Paige fled the room.

* * *

Outside the Spencer house, Piper was busy telling the catering staff how to do their jobs.

Phoebe and Paige stood watching. Paige could tell Phoebe was agitated, probably about the task that awaited the sisters as they had to ruin the wedding in order to save their innocent and vanquish the bride.

'Forget the food,' said Phoebe. 'Paige can do it!'

Turning to Paige, Phoebe apologised. 'Paige, I am really sorry. I have to go somewhere with Piper. It's a… a family emergency. Do you think you can take care of the catering for now?'

Paige nodded.

'Thank you,' said Piper. 'I'll make sure you get paid double!'

Phoebe grabbed Piper's hand and pulled her inside Spencer House.

Paige began following the two sisters at a safe enough distance so they would not spot her following them.

Piper and Phoebe stopped when they reached Elliott's door, but one of the bridesmaids stood in the way. Paige could not hear what they were saying from over the noise of the staff wandering the nearby corridors. Whatever they were asking, it was obvious that the bridesmaid was declining their requests. Mrs. Spencer approached the sisters and the bridesmaid.

'Excuse me, Miss,' someone had come up to Paige.

Paige turned to see a wedding guest. 'Yes?' Paige asked.

'Could you go and retrieve a bottle of wine from the cellar?' the guest asked. 'The supply in the reception room is a little lower than required.'

Paige nodded. The guest walked away. Paige passed the sisters on her way to the wine cellar, annoyed that she was not going to be able to make sure they stayed safe while putting their save-the-innocent plan into action.

Paige walked down the steps of the wine cellar. She advanced further into the cellar looking for the specific brand of wine that she knew Piper was using for the reception.

Paige heard a voice from behind her. 'Not to worry, we still have thirty minutes before the wedding.' It was Phoebe's voice.

Piper and Phoebe entered the wine cellar. Paige saw two demonic bridesmaids enter behind them, shutting the cellar door.

'This is bad,' Piper said.

'Real bad,' added Phoebe. 'Freeze them.'

'I'm trying. It's not working,' Piper was saying.

'Yes, it is. Look, you froze the fly,' Phoebe said.

Paige ducked below some boxes. She would keep her eye on the sisters, and only interject and make her presence known if she thought they really needed her. Other than that, what else could she do for them?

'Forget it!' she heard Piper shout. 'Run!'

Paige became concerned. The sisters might accidentally bump into her. As the sisters ran around the cellar to avoid the demonic bridesmaids, Paige would also have to run around wine cellar to avoid both the demonic bridesmaids and the Halliwells. It was like a three way game of tag mixed with a game of hide-and-go-seek.

Paige hid behind some stacks of wine, as the Halliwell sisters snuck onto her row. Piper had her phone to her ear and was whispering into it.

The demonic bridesmaids suddenly spotted Piper and Phoebe, so the sisters began to run again. Hidden behind the stack of wine bottles, Paige pushed a few wine bottles into the path of the demonic bridesmaids to slow them down. She was glad that she could aid the sisters by giving them a bit of a head start to lengthen their gap between themselves and the demonic bridesmaids.

Piper and Phoebe had made it to the wine cellar stairs. They were also within a close enough range for Piper to freeze the bridesmaids, but too far for Paige to hear what they were saying.

Paige saw Piper freeze the two bridesmaids. The wine cellar door flew open. Prue was there. She squinted at the bridesmaids, who went flying at some crates of wine.

Piper and Phoebe ran out of the wine cellar with Prue.

The two bridesmaids left the cellar hurriedly a minute or two after they had recovered.

* * *

Paige made her way onto the scene of the wedding. The three sisters and Allison were standing in the aisle. Jade looked angry and storm clouds like the night before had formed.

'Oh no,' Paige thought, remembering the lightening bolts that Jade had attacked Prue with.

Jade left the scene with Elliott, returning to Spencer house.

The three sisters followed.

Paige was about to follow them but was stopped by the wedding guest who had spoken to her earlier.

'Have you got that bottle of wine yet?' he asked her.

'Sorry? Four women just interrupted the wedding ceremony; The bride just ran off with the groom before the ceremony could be finished; A storm is brewing above our heads right now; And even with all this drama taking place all you can think of is alcohol?' said Paige astounded at the man's ignorance.

'So did you get the wine?' the man asked, completely ignorant to what Paige had just said.

Paige groaned. She knew now that her dream job would never be found within the catering sector.

There was a bang and a scream from one of the upstairs windows. The storm clouds overhead began to clear. Paige hoped that this had been caused by the success of good, and not the victory of evil.

Elliot came running out of the house accompanied by the Halliwells. Elliot and Allison embraced each other, while the three sisters walked off merrily chatting to one another.

Andy approached the sisters. Piper and Phoebe left Prue alone with him, and found Paige.

'Thanks, Paige, for filling in for us,' said Piper. 'I owe you.'

'No problem,' said Paige, thinking it best not to tell Piper that she had done as little work as Piper and Phoebe had done that afternoon. 'By the way, you can cross catering off my list of possible dream job ideas.'

Piper and Phoebe laughed. 'Was it that bad?' asked Piper.

Phoebe smiled. 'Catering is more of an acquired taste,' said Phoebe. 'I only did it for the money. I wouldn't do it as a day job either. The types of people who work in the catering profession are just so bossy and boring.'

'Hey!' said Piper, playfully hitting Phoebe on the back.

* * *

Paige found her car where she had left it the day before. She drove back to Halliwell manor, as the sisters had invited her over for dinner that evening.

The dinner consisted of just Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. It appeared that Prue and Andy were spending the evening together.

Paige bade goodbye to Piper and Phoebe after their meal. Paige got into her car, ready to leave, but a car had pulled up and blocked her onto the drive. Prue got out of the car, and leant into the car window to kiss Andy goodnight.

Andy pulled away. Paige was about to reverse out of the drive when there was a knock on her window.

She unwound her window. 'Hey Prue,' she said.

'Paige, we need to talk' were Prue's exact words.

Paige gulped.

Prue continued, 'I know it was you last night, Paige. Mind if we go for a drive and talk?'

Paige shook her head and Prue walked over to the other side of the car and got into the passenger seat.

Paige reversed out of the drive, trying to think of how she was going to dig herself out of this hole.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you liked this chapter. I really do not like having to take lines from the episodes when I have Paige involved in scenes that were in the actual episode. In the next chapter, I will have Prue explain why she came back to the bachelorette party without the two sisters. Please review, reviews are extremely helpful and always nice to find when logging onto the fan fiction website.


	6. Wedding From Hell(AndUnexpectedRequests)

**A/N: **I know I said the previous chapter was the last of the _Wedding From Hell_, and it was. This just had to have the title of that episode because this occurs before _The Fourth Sister_ stuff starts. To look forward to in this chapter: Prue and Paige's conversation concerning what Prue has found out about Paige. And a heart-to-heart between father and daughter, Leo and Paige.

* * *

**Chapter Six: Wedding From Hell (And Unexpected Requests)**

Paige could feel Prue's gaze upon her. Paige tried to ignore it by keeping her eyes on the road.

'You were there last night, Paige,' said Prue. 'You were the witch that saved the stripper, weren't you?'

'I don't know what you are talking about,' said Paige. She continued staring at the road ahead. Paige's grip tightened around the steering wheel. She winced; her wounded left hand was still tender to the touch.

Prue had noticed Paige wince. 'There is no point hiding the truth,' Prue said. 'I know that you hurt your hand because you smashed the sky light open last night.'

'Skylight? What are you on about?' Paige continued with denial, even though she knew it would not work. 'I cut my hand open while I was cooking with Isobel yesterday.'

'Nice try,' said Prue laughing. 'I came to see you after you had been cooking with Isobel yesterday, remember? Your hand was fine when I saw you.'

Prue was seeing right through any lie that Paige tried to build up in order to protect her identity. Leo had prepared her for how to react if the sisters revealed their secret to her, but not how to react if a Halliwell was interrogating Paige about her own secrets.

Paige's grip on the steering wheel tightened even more. Paige winced again.

'Urgh, Paige,' groaned Prue. 'Let me take control.'

Paige suddenly could not control the steering wheel. It was like someone else had taken hold of it. She let go, and it was steering by itself. Paige looked round to see Prue squinting at the steering wheel.

'Prue! You cannot drive the car using your telekinesis! Are you crazy? You cannot look at the road at the same time as moving the steering wheel with your mind! Your powers are not advanced enough!' shouted Paige in shock.

Prue looked up at Paige. She was smiling. Paige took back control of the steering wheel and pulled the car over so as they could talk.

'So you know that I have telekinesis,' said Prue. 'I assume you also know about Piper and Phoebe?'

Paige nodded slowly.

'Are you a witch too?' asked Prue.

Not giving a clear yes or no, Paige replied, 'I don't have any powers.'

'So you are not a witch… You know about magic though,' Prue assumed. Paige thought it was best if Prue did not find out the whole truth, so let her make that assumption.

Paige sighed. 'I was asked to come and guide you three because you are new to the craft. I promise you that although I was asked to become part of your lives, the friendship which I have formed with you, Piper, and Phoebe is real. I have to make sure you know that I do enjoy spending time with you and your sisters. Our friendship is real.'

'I believe you,' said Prue. Then she added, 'Who sent you?'

'I cannot tell you,' said Paige. 'I can guarantee that it is all in good cause. I am just here to keep watch over the three of you, make sure that you don't come to harm.'

'If you are here for us,' said Prue. 'Why did you try to face Jade on your own?'

Paige looked down. 'Earlier that day, I saw that other man die. I was not prepared to see more people die. So I was keeping watch over Jade that evening when you three showed up to snoop as well. When I saw them attack the stripper, I thought you three would leap at the chance to save him, but you had already gone…'

'Paige…' said Prue. 'I… we didn't. We did not leave him for dead however it may have looked. I made Piper and Phoebe leave at that point because I did not want them to come to any harm. When their car drove away, I came back, determined to save the stripper and vanquish Jade there and then. I did not want my sisters to have to face her. Unfortunately my plan did not work… Have I thanked you for saving me last night?'

Paige looked at Prue. 'You did, when I handed you the poingnard.'

'That does not count,' said Prue. 'I did not know who it was that I was thanking last night. Thank you Paige.'

'Prue, whether I had been asked to keep you three safe or not, I would not have left you to face Jade alone,' said Paige.

'Whether you were asked to keep us safe or not, I still have to thank you, Paige,' Prue laughed. 'You did save my life after all. Piper and Phoebe do not know that I went back there last night, so if you could avoid repeating it to them then that would be great.'

'I can, if you can promise me that you won't tell Piper and Phoebe about my secret,' said Paige. 'You are not supposed to know about this.'

Prue nodded. 'I understand. My lips are sealed, Paige.'

Paige smiled.

'You know, when we first met you, Paige – When Piper pointed you out in Quake – the three of us thought there was something familiar about you,' began Prue. 'We could not understand what it was. And we still can't to this day. Is it anything to do with your secret?'

Paige shook her head. 'I wish I knew. That is another reason why I am sticking close to you three. I want to know the answer as much as you do.'

'Phoebe wanted to try and get a premonition off of you. She hoped that she would get an answer that way,' Prue laughed.

'I realised,' said Paige. 'Unfortunately for her, the person that sent me had warned me about her power of premonition, so told me not to allow any physical contact in case she guessed my secret.'

Prue laughed. 'Piper and I did tell her not to attempt it but she is so reckless and we knew she would do it even after our opposition. As we knew she would have gone against our wishes, we asked her that evening whether she had been successful.'

'What did she say?' said Paige, remembering the sight of Phoebe picking up Paige's glass after she had left the restaurant.

'She said you had some personal space issues,' said Prue, laughing. 'Apparently you would not shake hands and sat as far back from Phoebe as possible throughout the conversation. Phoebe even asked us if she smelled or had bad breath.'

Paige relaxed knowing that Phoebe definitely had not seen her secret in a vision.

'It's late,' said Paige. 'I'll drive you to the manor and then go off to my home.'

Prue looked at Paige. 'You are supposed to keep watch over us, right?' Prue asked.

Paige nodded. 'That's why I am glad you guys invite me around so often.'

'Well, how would you feel about moving in with us?' asked Prue.

'What?' said Paige, shocked at the unexpected offer. 'Surely you have to speak to your sisters about this first.'

'I know that they will be happy to hear you are moving in,' said Prue. 'Besides it will make it easier for you not having to drive to ours everyday, and it means that you can give up your flat, and spend your money on things other than bills.'

'I would have to pay you rent money,' said Paige.

'No, you wouldn't,' said Prue.

'It will make it harder on Piper and Phoebe though,' said Paige. 'Don't think I haven't noticed that you three switch to talking in code whenever I walk in on one of your magic involved conversations. If I live there, that will make it harder on them too, as they think I know nothing about the existence of magic.'

'We'll cope,' said Prue. 'Can I take your continuous concerns and excuses as a yes?'

'Not yet,' Paige said. 'I have a few more excuses to try first.'

Prue laughed. 'Try me.'

'Well, you already moan about the shower rota and hot water,' said Paige. 'And I am pretty sure you do not have a spare bedroom.'

When Paige had first set foot in the manor, Piper had jumped at the chance to give Paige a guided tour of every room except for the attic. Therefore, Paige knew that there were only three bedrooms in the manor. Each was occupied by one of the sisters.

'We do not have a spare bedroom, but we do have the attic,' Prue said. 'The attic is furnished quite nicely.'

'The attic? You keep the Book of Shadows there!' Paige said. 'What will happen when Piper and Phoebe need to go there to read the Book? I will only be getting in the way as they will have to make excuses as to why they are there…'

Prue shook her head. 'We will have a cabinet that we can hide the Book in within the attic, and I will tell you where it is, just in case you ever want to read through it,' began Prue. 'Or the only other option will be for me to keep the Book in my room. Piper and Phoebe will not be able to argue with me taking possession of the Book of Shadows, and I will feel more in charge. So either way, it is a win-win situation for me.'

Paige smiled. 'Miss Prue Halliwell, I would like to accept your offer.'

The two women shook hands.

Paige started the car up and began to drive again.

'Your friend, Isobel,' began Prue after a pause. 'Is she a witch?'

Paige nodded. 'We were making potions all afternoon together. Hence the funny smell in my flat. Her whole family is magical. Like yours, their magic goes back many generations.'

'So if Isobel is a witch, then her twin, Wilson…' Prue started.

'Yes, Wilson is a witch,' said Paige. 'And the fieldwork he is undertaking is in the under world.' Paige began to well up as she remembered how much danger he could be in.

'You mean he is researching demons? He is spending a year in the underworld? Is he mad?' said Prue.

'I… He…' Paige did not know what to say.

Prue patted Paige on the shoulder. She would have hugged Paige, if Paige had not been driving.

Paige pulled onto the kerb outside Halliwell manor and Prue jumped out of the car.

'Bye Paige, and thank you for sharing,' said Prue.

'Thank you for keeping my secret,' said Paige.

'Moving in day tomorrow Paige.'

Paige nodded and drove off.

* * *

Paige unlocked her front door to find Leo sitting on the armchair. He looked concerned. At first she thought he knew that Paige had blown part of her cover to one of the Halliwell sisters.

'Paige. You have avoided me since our little chat yesterday,' said Leo.

'Phew,' Paige thought. 'That's what he is angry about. He doesn't know about Prue. Good.'

'Don't worry, Dad,' Paige said. 'Everything is fine now. Isobel calmed me down after you left and then I kept my eye on the Halliwells at the wedding today to make sure their plan to vanquish the demon went without a hitch.'

Leo nodded. He looked a little less concerned now, but still serious.

'I have to tell you something,' said Paige.

Leo sat up and waited for Paige to continue.

'This flat was only bought for the purpose of me, right?' said Paige. 'You do not require it for yourself, do you?'

'Although white lighters sleep we do not require home comforts.'

'Exactly,' said Paige. 'So you would not mind if I did not renew my lease on the flat?'

'Where are you going to live?' said Leo.

'Prue invited me to live with them,' she said. 'Apparently I hang out with them so often that I might as well live there.'

'She just invited you out of the blue? That is out of character for Prue, either that or she really trusts you…' said Leo. 'Just yesterday morning, before you left to pick up Phoebe for work you were saying how Prue had hardly spoken to you.'

'Well, a lot happened in two days, Dad,' said Paige. 'After Isobel left, Prue came to have a talk with me. And then, I guess I can say, Prue and I bonded last night. It was like she knew I would look out for her, as much as she will for me. And then this evening, we had another get together.'

Paige was not going to tell Leo that Prue knew part of Paige's secret. Paige hoped Leo would not find out.

'Whatever makes you happy, Paige,' said Leo. 'This sudden change in Prue's opinion of you needs to be checked though. I want to double check with the Elders that she has not been possessed by evil.'

'Is it that unlikely that Prue would like me then?' asked Paige, a little hurt.

'It's not that, Paige,' said Leo. 'Her change in opinion over you occurred so fast that I have to double check this sort of thing. I want you to be safe, okay? Don't move in until I say you can.'

'I can move in when I want, Dad!' Paige raised her voice. 'In fact, I am moving in tomorrow!'

Paige stormed into her room and started throwing her stuff into a suitcase noisily.

Paige was moving between the rooms of the flat, as she moved her possessions into her suitcases. It had been an hour since she had started this task. Leo orbed in front of her.

'I just spoke to the Elders,' said Leo. 'Prue is fine.'

'Like I said,' said Paige, still a little irritated at Leo.

'Paige, this is big,' said Leo. 'I know I never technically lived here, but this is the flat that I raised you in. And to me, you are still that little baby wrapped in sheets. And now you are moving out.'

Paige dropped a pile of blankets she had just picked up and hugged Leo.

'I am going to miss you too, Dad,' she said. 'We will still be working undercover at Halliwell manor together. So as long as you come to the manor often, you will still see me.'

'I know, Paige,' Leo said. 'It will be different though.'

Paige and Leo let go of one another, ending their hug.

'Tonight is your last night living at this flat?' he asked.

Paige nodded.

'Want to stay up for the rest of the night watching films?' he asked. 'Like we used to do on the weekends when you were little?'

Paige smiled. 'Sure, Dad.'

* * *

Father and daughter, Leo and Paige, sat down on the floor in front of their television watching movies all night long.

Leo started to snore during their fourth successive film. Paige could not relax though, thinking about the knot of lies which she had tied herself up in.

Isobel knew everything that Paige knew. Leo knew everything except that Paige was a witch and that Prue knew part of her secret. Prue knew that Paige knew the Halliwell's secret, but did not know that Paige was a witch, nor did she have any idea that there was a connection between Leo Wyatt and Paige Matthews. Piper and Phoebe just thought that they were the ones keeping a secret from Paige.

Paige wondered whether she would end up being trapped by the web of lies she had woven, considering that at the end of every web, there is a spider…

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter lacked action but it was just tying up loose ends from everything that happened over the last few chapters. I tried some word play in that final sentence of this chapter, but it was probably really cheesy, so ignore it if you want. The next chapter should start off alongside _The Fourth Sister _plot. Please review!


	7. The Fourth Sister (AndTheEarlySaturday)

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews so far! This chapter begins when Kit goes missing, dun dun dun! What an unexpected twist that is (Yes, I am being sarcastic)! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Seven: The Fourth Sister (And The Very Early Saturday)**

Paige had been living in Halliwell manor for two weeks now. Piper and Phoebe had been immensely happy at the news that Paige was to live with them; although extremely surprised that Prue had been the one to invite Paige to live there. She had moved into the attic. Piper had initially insisted on putting a bed up there, but Paige had refused this offer as she enjoyed sleeping on the old sofa in the attic.

On first entering the attic, Paige had noticed that there was a big empty space in the middle of the attic where a rug sat. The walls were covered by many cabinets and chest of drawers, all of which were clustered with dusty objects and antiques. In one corner of the room stood a mirror which was covered by a dusty cloth. An area of the wooden floor was a slightly lighter brown than the rest of the floorboards.

'That's where the bookstand has been for heaven knows how long,' Prue had whispered to Paige when Piper and Phoebe were out of earshot. 'Phoebe absolutely refused to let us keep the Book of Shadows in my room. You will find it locked away in this cabinet here.' Prue had pointed at a cabinet in the corner of the attic, and removed a key from her jeans pocket. 'Here's a spare key to that cabinet if you ever feel like reading it.'

Each evening, before Paige went to sleep, she would take the Book of Shadows from the cabinet and do a bit of light reading. Reading about all the spells made Paige wonder whether she had any active powers of her own that she was yet to discover.

A week after Paige had moved in, Kit the Halliwell's pet cat had gone missing. Paige had not really known their cat for that long, but she could tell that the sisters were distressed by Kit's disappearance.

On her second week in Halliwell manor, Paige woke up to hear some banging coming from downstairs. She stood up and the Book of Shadows dropped to the floor. It was a Saturday morning so she did not have to worry about being up early for work. She must have fallen asleep reading the Book. She stretched, picked it up, and put it back in the cabinet, making sure to lock the cabinet.

Paige put on a dressing gown, unlocked the attic door, and clambered down the attic staircase, and then again down the other staircase. Squinting at her watch, Paige could tell it was only six in the morning. Why was someone making that terrible noise at six o'clock on a Saturday morning? On finding herself in the foyer area, Paige turned into the living room where the banging noise was originating from.

Piper was sitting in a chair holding some reward flyers for Kit. Piper was not the source of the banging noise. Walking into the living room, Paige spotted Phoebe holding a mug of coffee. Phoebe was looking at something obscured from Paige's view by the sofa. Phoebe was not the source of the noise either.

'Oh my,' said Phoebe. 'Santa, you've changed.'

'He's looking for Kit,' said Piper, glaring at Phoebe.

'He?' Paige thought, unsure of whom they were referring to.

'Hi Paige,' said Phoebe, turning to see Paige advancing into the living room.

In front of the sofa, within the chimney stack, Paige found the source of the banging noise that had woken her up.

'Morning Paige,' said Piper.

'Morning,' mumbled Paige. 'Why is he looking for Kit in the chimney?'

Paige's eyes had not yet adjusted to the light, so she could not tell who the man in the chimney was.

'Just in case Kit got stuck up there,' Piper answered.

'The cat. Right. Four legs and fur. I remember,' said Phoebe before mouthing to Piper and Paige, 'Oh my…

Paige looked away from Phoebe before she had finished mouthing her feelings over the presence and position of the man.

Paige had looked away from Phoebe because the man was moving himself out of the chimney, so as his face came into full view. Paige rubbed her eyes. She realised who he was as her eyes adjusted to the light.

'Sorry,' said Leo. 'You know, have you tried the shelter?'

'Yeah. Nothing,' said Piper.

'Well, she had her collar on right?' asked Leo. 'With your number on it and everything?'

'A very distinctive collar actually,' said Phoebe.

Paige left to go into the kitchen. This was the first time Paige had met Leo while both were undercover inside Halliwell manor. She had been dreading this, as she knew there was likely to be an awkward introduction any minute now. She hoped that Leo was on his way out so as she could avoid the awkward introduction for now.

Paige shoved two slices of bread in the toaster. Once her toast popped up, she stuck it on a plate and buttered it. On taking a bite out of one slice, she heard the front door close. Thinking it was safe (Leo-less) to return to the living room, Paige walked into the hallway while munching on her toast.

Piper and Phoebe were standing in the hallway.

'I saw him first,' said Piper to Phoebe.

Phoebe was staring at the door Leo had left through so was not concentrating properly on what Piper had said.

'Paige, go eat that in the kitchen!' Piper said, seeing Paige. 'You are getting crumbs everywhere!'

'I told you so, Piper,' said Phoebe as the three of them entered the kitchen.

'Told me what?' said Piper, searching through a cupboard.

'You just have to be everyone's mum,' said Phoebe.

Paige wondered what she must have missed while she was hiding in the kitchen that had led to this comment.

* * *

An hour later (seven o'clock) there was a knock on the front door. Phoebe was in the shower, Piper was busy in the kitchen, and Prue was out for a morning jog. Paige had been hanging around in the living room, as she could not get back to sleep. She decided to answer the door.

'Oh, hi…' said Paige, as she opened the door to see Leo. She was unsure as to how to greet him. However, Leo appeared to have rehearsed how he was going to greet Paige.

'Hi,' he said, holding out his hand to shake. 'We have not been formally introduced yet. I am Leo Wyatt, the sisters' handyman.'

Paige hesitated before shaking Leo's hand and allowing him in. Piper had left the kitchen.

'Leo! Hi,' Piper said. 'This is Paige Matthews. She is a close friend of ours. Paige lives with us at the manor.'

Leo nodded.

Phoebe came running down the stairs. 'Hi Leo!' Phoebe said, smiling.

'I thought you were in the shower,' said Piper, glaring at Phoebe.

'I finished,' said Phoebe. She was fully dressed and did not look like she had rushed out of the shower.

Paige heard Piper mumble to herself, 'You just can't stay away from Leo…'

'So what task do you need me to do, Piper?' Leo asked.

'We need some restoration work done on the walls,' she said, pointing around the foyer area.

Leo nodded. 'I will get right to it,' he said.

Phoebe sat down on the bottom step of the staircase, watching as Leo brought a ladder into the foyer and began to work.

Piper stood by Phoebe, also watching Leo.

'Piper, don't you need to prepare lunch?' said Phoebe smirking. 'It's seven o'clock, you know. You need to use all your precious hours to get our lunch cooked perfectly.'

Piper scowled at Phoebe and left for the kitchen.

'Are you kidding me?' Paige thought. 'No, no, no! This is so wrong!'

Paige ran past Phoebe up both sets of stairs and slammed the attic door behind her locking it.

Paige did not know what to do. She was grossed out, she was disgusted. Piper and Phoebe were fighting over her dad!

* * *

Half an hour later, Paige saw Prue jog onto the drive, through the attic window. A few minutes later, she heard Prue go into her bedroom. She also heard one of the other sisters venture into Prue's room a few minutes later.

* * *

Around eight o'clock, the phone rang. A second or two later, Leo orbed into her room.

'Hi Paige. I can't stay long. Prue and Phoebe are upstairs talking and Piper is busy on the phone in the kitchen,' he said. 'Did you still want me to keep you up to date on who the Halliwell's innocents are?'

Paige became alert and nodded. 'When did the Elders tell you?'

'Just after I finished putting up Piper's flyers, the Elders called me to go up there,' he said. 'All I know is that the Halliwell's next innocent is named Aviva. Now I really have to go. I don't know how long Piper will be on the phone. I do not want her to come into the foyer and notice me gone.'

Leo orbed out of the attic.

* * *

At nine am, Paige decided that it might be safe enough to return downstairs. She did not know however how long she could stand being in the same room as Piper or Phoebe at the moment, but she would try.

Paige bumped into Prue and Phoebe on her way down to the foyer.

'Hey Paige,' said Phoebe. 'Where did you get to before? You just ran off and never came back.'

'I had some thinking to do,' said Paige. She was finding it hard not to be annoyed at Phoebe right now, and did not really want to talk to her. Paige turned to the eldest Halliwell and said, 'Hi Prue. How was the jog?'

'Hi Paige,' said Prue. 'It was a little breezy out but the jog warmed me up.'

'Anyway, Prue,' said Phoebe, continuing her and Prue's previous conversation. 'Andy and you will work out. Don't worry about it.'

Prue shook her head. 'I don't know. With all this stuff going on, you know,' said Prue. Prue quickly winked at Paige, as she knew that Paige knew Prue was referring to being a witch, but was pretending to hide it from Paige, as Phoebe did not know that Paige knew. Basically, this sort of thing had become an inside joke between Prue and Paige.

As they reached the bottom of the staircase, Paige could see Leo holding a plate consisting of cinnamon roll and, in his other hand, a glass of milk.

'Just don't call me mum,' Paige heard Piper say.

'Trust me. One hot night is all you guys need to get back on track,' said Phoebe to Prue.

'Yeah,' said Prue. 'I hope you're right.'

'Andy's a cop, you're a…' Phoebe paused, remembering Paige was walking with them. 'Just expect complications, Prue.'

'Hey Leo. How's it going?' asked Prue.

Leo started explaining what he was going to do to the walls, but Paige could not listen. The actions of two youngest Halliwell sisters were distracting her. They were both gazing at Leo and it just felt wrong to Paige to see them doing this.

Paige was glad to see that Prue seemed to have no feelings towards Leo. To Prue, Leo was just the handyman, nothing more nothing less.

'Nice outfit,' Paige heard Piper say to Phoebe. 'For nine o'clock in the morning with no place to go.'

'Hmm. Glad you like it,' said Phoebe, watching Leo take a sip of milk. 'Oh Leo, come here.'

Phoebe had noticed that Leo had gotten some milk on his face. Paige could not stand to watch Phoebe wipe it off. Paige stormed into the kitchen, slamming the door shut.

Paige sat on a chair and flopped her head onto the kitchen table.

'Phoebe, come here,' she heard Prue say loudly. 'Phoebe!'

The kitchen door opened, two sets of feet entered, and the kitchen door closed behind them.

'I think that Piper likes Leo,' said Prue.

There was a tap on Paige's shoulder. She slowly lifted her head up to see Prue and Phoebe staring at her.

'Everything okay, Paige?' said Prue. She looked concerned.

'It's nothing,' Paige lied. 'I don't feel well. The smell and sight of the cinnamon roll and milk were making me feel nauseous so I came in here.'

'Paige, you are in a kitchen. This room is filled with the aroma of Piper's lunch preparations. The smell of the meal is wafting from the oven,' said Phoebe. 'Maybe the kitchen is not the best place to have gone?'

If Prue had said it, Paige would have shrugged it off. However, Phoebe had said it, and Paige was currently ticked off at Phoebe. Therefore, Paige glared at Phoebe before jumping up and leaving the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.

Paige passed Piper and Leo on her way to the stairs. Piper saw that Paige did not look happy.

'Is something wrong, Paige?' Piper asked with concern in her voice.

Paige was just as annoyed at Piper as she was with Phoebe, so she replied with a 'Nothing you need to worry about. Just continue your stupid competition with Phoebe!'

Before Piper could answer, Paige was already halfway up the stairs. She headed straight for the attic, and like earlier that day, Paige slammed and locked the door behind her.

There was a knock on the attic door. Paige ignored it.

'Paige?' It was Piper's voice. 'Paige, what's wrong?'

'Go away, Piper!' shouted Paige.

Paige heard Piper say in a lower tone to someone, 'Do you think I should keep asking until she tells me what's wrong?'

'Probably not a good idea.' It was Leo's voice. Piper had come upstairs with Leo. Paige threw her cushion at the closed door in anger.

'It may be best to leave her alone for a little while. Let her cool down,' said Leo. After a pause, he added 'Do you mind if I use the bathroom?'

'No, go ahead,' said Piper. 'It's down the hall and to the right.'

Paige heard Piper and Leo descend the steps as their footsteps grew quieter. She threw her sheets over her head so as she could lie in complete darkness.

Less than a minute later, a blue glow lit up the room. Paige remained under her sheets. She knew Leo had just orbed in (she realised he would when she had heard the bathroom excuse. It was the perfect place for him to orb without blowing his cover).

'Paige,' said Leo. 'Why are you upset?'

He pulled the cover off Paige's face.

'Maybe you should go talk to all your admirers!' hissed Paige. 'Maybe they can find the answer for you!'

'Oh,' said Leo, realising what had caused Paige's anger. 'Paige, I realise you must be uncomfortable with the way Phoebe acts around me, considering it is like your best friend is hitting on your dad. I can guarantee that I do not think about Phoebe in that way at all.'

Paige felt slightly less grossed out now. 'Can you guarantee the same thing about Piper?' she said.

Leo suddenly looked at the attic door. 'I better get back to the bathroom and then get back to work on coating those walls! Bye Paige!'

He orbed out.

Leo had blatantly avoided the question. Paige stuck her head back beneath her sheets.

Around ten minutes later there was a knock at her door.

'Piper! I said go away!' shouted Paige.

'I'm not Piper,' said a voice belonging to Prue. 'Let me in. We need to talk.'

'No we don't,' said Paige.

Paige pulled her sheet from her head and looked at the attic door. The bolt that she had used to lock the door was sliding across, unlocking itself. Prue was using telekinesis to let herself in.

Prue smiled as she walked in and shut the door behind her. 'I thought I would let myself in.'

'Prue, we don't need to talk, okay?' said Paige. 'And by the way 'we need to talk' seems to be the only way that you greet me.'

'I am sure I do say 'hello' to you every now and then,' Prue laughed.

Paige laughed. 'Not as often as those four words, Prue.'

'See, Paige. You are not in that bad a mood if I have made you laugh already,' said Prue. 'Why don't you come downstairs?'

'It is not you I am mad at,' said Paige.

'You're mad at Phoebe?' said Prue. 'And you shouted at Piper, right? So you are angry with her too… Why?'

'I cannot tell you,' said Paige, becoming serious again.

'Yes, you can Paige,' said Prue. Then she added, 'Oh… Do you like Leo as well?'

Paige turned to Prue in surprise. 'Why would you say something as gross as that?' she said before remembering that Prue did not know that Leo was Paige's adopted father. 'I mean, why would you say that?'

'Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot you have a relationship with a witch named… Was it Will?' said Prue.

Paige nodded. 'I have not seen Wilson in so long…' Then changing the subject, Paige asked, 'When is your next date with Andy?'

'Tonight,' said Prue. 'I am going to be going to the video store later with Andy to rent something. The three of you are going to be clearing out tonight, so Andy and I can have the manor to ourselves, right?'

'Of course, I will be out of your way,' said Paige. She could not bring herself to say 'we' at the moment. She was still annoyed at the two younger Halliwell's behaviour this morning.

'Do you remember a couple of weeks ago promising to help me out with my next date with Andy?' asked Prue.

'Yes, I do,' said Paige. 'I also remember you having loads of dates over the last couple of weeks with Andy. Therefore my offer has expired as it was meant for your 'next' date with Andy and you never cashed it in.'

Prue and Paige both laughed.

'How would you like me to help, Prue?' said Paige.

'I have a hunch that when Andy gets here tonight for our date, my dearest sisters will have found a reason to remain in the house,' said Prue. 'All I need is for you to make sure the house is empty for my date. Please.'

Paige nodded. 'Of course I will, Prue.'

Prue got up, hugged Paige, and then left the room. Paige stood up and locked the attic door. She went over to the cabinet, unlocked it, and removed the Book of Shadows.

Flicking through it, Paige found a 'Reflection' spell. On reading it, she assumed that the spell made others reflect on their actions.

'Hmm… Maybe Piper and Phoebe could do with this,' Paige thought.

However, having been on her own in the attic for a while, Paige had calmed down; especially after a friendly chat with Prue. Paige did not feel like she needed to try out this particular spell. She did not really want the first spell she tried (and succeeded at) to be a vengeful one. Then again, making someone reflect on their actions was not really vengeance was it? It was more like guidance, which was Paige's reason for being there. She was there to guide the Halliwells. Paige shook the thought out of her head. She did not need to cast this spell.

Someone stomped up the steps to the attic door and was now knocking fiercely on the attic door.

'Paige! Let me in! You have to talk to me sometime!' It was Phoebe.

Paige ignored Phoebe. Although Paige had calmed down, her temper was beginning to rise again.

'Prue told me that you would not tell her why you were annoyed at me and Piper,' continued Phoebe. 'She said you changed the topic. I want to know why you are mad at me! What did I do?'

'You are hitting on my adoptive dad!' Paige thought angrily, but obviously had no intention of saying.

Paige looked down at the open page of the Book of Shadows on her lap. The spell was right in front of her, she could say it, if she spoke the words now…

'Paige! I know you are in there!' shouted Phoebe, still knocking on the door. 'Let me in!'

'If Phoebe wants to know what's wrong with me, maybe I should try out this spell,' thought Paige as she began to read the words out loud:

'_This person, so full of neglection_…'

'Paige? Did you just say something?' Phoebe said, still knocking on the door.

Paige continued, '_Should spend some time in reflection_.'

The knocking on the attic door stopped. Instead, the knocking sound was now coming from inside the attic. Paige's eyes darted around the attic. It sounded like someone was knocking on glass.

Paige put the Book of Shadows down and wandered around the attic, trying to locate the source of the knocking sound. There was no one at the window – why would there be? They would have to be outside to be knocking on it, and she was how far up from the ground?

The sound was coming from the corner of the room where the mirror beneath the sheet stood.

Hesitantly, Paige approached it. Pulling the sheet from the mirror, Paige almost fainted.

The image in the mirror was not Paige's startled reflection. It was a pale Phoebe.

'You're… You're a witch?' stuttered Phoebe.

Paige did not know what had shocked her most: The fact that she had accidentally got Phoebe stuck inside a mirror, the fact that Phoebe knew Paige had cast the spell and therefore had found out that Paige was a witch, or the fact that it was only ten am on a Saturday morning and it had already felt like an extremely long day.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked it. I had Prue use telekinesis in this chapter on a lock that she was not directly looking at. I know most of the time when channelling through her eyes, she has to see the object to move it, but in the pilot episode she tightens Roger's tie without looking (actually she technically channels that through her hands without even knowing it). So it is possible she could open the lock from the other side of the door even if her powers were not that advanced at this stage of season one. Please review!


	8. The Fourth Sister (And Poor Reflections)

**A/N:** Me? XD Evil? Never! I am as good as a Whitelighter! Here's the next instalment with an answer to that lovely-not-evil-at-all-cliff-hanger that appeared at the end of the last chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Eight: The Fourth Sister (And Some Poor Reflections)**

'Paige, what have you done?' shouted Phoebe.

Paige shushed Phoebe. 'Don't speak so loudly. Prue, Piper, and Leo may hear. They may come up to see what is going on.'

'Don't you think I want Prue and Piper to come up here?' said Phoebe, not lowering her volume one little bit. 'Paige, you never told us you were a witch! How do I know you aren't a warlock or a demon?'

'Phoebe, I promise you, I am a good witch,' said Paige, hoping no one had heard Phoebe's raised voice yet. 'I was asked to come and guide the three of you as you are new to the craft. I had to keep it a secret though.'

'How can I believe that?' asked Phoebe. 'Maybe that's true and you are a good witch, or that's a lie and you are actually a demon or warlock out to destroy the Charmed Ones. Either way, that means you have been lying to Prue, Piper, and me!'

Paige shook her head. 'Listen, I did not know I was a witch until… You know when you and Piper asked me to help you with catering at that wedding?'

Phoebe nodded.

'You threw an appetiser at Piper, she raised her hands up, and it froze,' said Paige. 'That is when I realised that Piper's power had not affected me, and therefore I found out that I was a witch.'

'Er, Paige, you did freeze,' said Phoebe, 'I was there.'

Paige shook her head. 'No, I didn't. I pretended to freeze. I couldn't let my secret come out by letting you guys know that I was a witch.'

Phoebe still did not look convinced.

Paige thought back to that day. It had stuck in her head quite clearly considering what she had discovered about herself.

'The first thing you said was 'What are you doing? Why did you have to freeze Paige?' when Piper froze the room,' began Paige. 'Then Piper replied complaining about not wanting to go to the wedding short on food especially as Chef Moore had practically left her in charge. Then she removed the appetiser from the air and placed it on the tray. Then I pretended to unfreeze, and thought better than to try and make her explain why to a frozen person the appetiser that had been mid-air had suddenly disappeared and somehow been placed back on the tray.'

Phoebe appeared to have accepted Paige's answer; however, she still stared suspiciously at Paige.

'You said you were sent here as our guide, but you just told me you did not know you were a witch until after you had been sent to guide us,' said Phoebe. 'That just doesn't add up. Why would someone send a witch-to-be to guide new witches? Who was it that sent you anyway?'

'Wow, Pheebs,' said Paige, rolling her eyes. 'The way you interrogate, you should go back to college and get yourself a law degree.'

'Nah, too much hard work for me and I would get extremely bored in court. I would rather marry a lawyer, than become one,' Phoebe said, laughing. Then she became serious again, 'Look, don't change the subject, Paige.'

'Phoebe, I did not know I was a witch, but there are people in the magical community that I am connected to,' said Paige. She did not want to give too much away, but she had to make Phoebe know that Paige was good, she was safe to be with. 'They thought I would be the perfect person to guide you. And I am not allowed to tell you who sent me. It is against their rules.'

'Rules schmules,' said Phoebe. 'Sounds like the same people who came up with the annoying personal gain clause on these spells.'

'Eurgh,' Paige groaned. 'Do you think this is my consequence for using a spell for personal gain?'

'You mean me getting stuck in a mirror was for your own personal gain? Then how is me getting stuck in the mirror a consequence for you!' said Phoebe. Her voice had gotten louder again.

'Sssshhh!' said Paige.

'Sorry, but Paige, why were you even casting this spell? How did you even get a hold of the Book of Shadows?' asked Phoebe. 'We hid it, we locked it away.'

'I was mad at you, and I saw that spell in the Book. I thought 'reflections' meant as in when you think about your actions, not as in mirrors. I am really sorry. I did not know the spell would do this! They should really have a detailed information section of what each spell does,' said Paige. 'And er, Prue told me where the Book was hidden. She gave me the spare key…'

'_Prue knows you're a witch?_' Phoebe said in what was almost a shriek.

'Pheebs?' Piper was calling Phoebe's name from all the way downstairs. 'Is something the matter?'

Paige unlocked the attic door and poked her head out so as she could be audible to Piper. 'Don't worry about Phoebe! We are just having a chat!'

Paige shut the door and relocked it.

'Prue knows? You told Prue, but not me?' said Phoebe, glaring at Paige. 'And I guess Piper knows too? I am _always_ the last to know!'

'Prue does not know I am a witch. She knows the bit about me knowing about you three and about how I am here to guide you, but she does not know I am a witch,' said Paige, talking fast because she was feeling nervous. 'Piper does not know anything. I would like it to stay that way.'

'Paige, are you going to tell me why you are mad at me?' said Phoebe. 'Why did you want me to think about my actions? What have I done?'

'I can't tell you…' mumbled Paige.

'Paige!' shouted Phoebe. 'I am stuck behind a mirror. You are a witch. You got me stuck in here!'

'Can you stop listing the obvious Pheebs?' whimpered Paige. 'I am trying to think of how to get you out of there…'

For the last few minutes, while Phoebe had been interrogating Paige, Paige had been looking through the Book of Shadows for some sort of reversal spell or potion.

'I can't find anything…' moaned Paige.

'Paige, as much as I hate to admit this, we need Prue's help,' said Phoebe. 'I realise you probably don't want Piper up here as you want to try and still keep your secret. You said Prue knows that you know about magic though, so you could easily say this was a potion so as you can still keep the fact that you are a witch from Prue. Then she could try to help come up with a way to get me out of here.'

Paige shook her head. 'I can't. I can't do that to Prue.'

'Do what to Prue?' said Phoebe. 'She can help us. Please don't make me repeat that again. Prue would probably want it recorded if she ever heard me say that.'

'I can't. I promised Prue,' began Paige.

'Promised her what?' Phoebe said irritated.

'If I tell her about this, she will probably cancel her date with Andy,' said Paige. 'I can't do that to her. I promised her that I would make sure that I would help make sure nothing – such as sisters – would get in the way of her date with Andy.'

Phoebe nodded, understanding why Paige was reluctant to tell Prue about their predicament.

'Then you will have to tell Piper because I am not staying inside this mirror for the rest of my life,' said Phoebe. Then she added sarcastically, 'Demons beware the Charmed Ones! One can throw you across the air with her mind. The second one can freeze you in your stride. And the third one, well, careful not to attack her, if you smash the mirror she is stuck in, you will get seven years bad luck!'

'I am so sorry, Phoebe!' said Paige. How many times did she need to apologise? 'I can't tell Piper. There is someone I can phone though…'

Paige picked up a phone and dialled a New York number.

'Hi. May I ask who is phoning?' inquired the recipient of Paige's phone call.

'Isobel. It's Paige,' said Paige.

'Paige! Oh, it's so great to hear from you! I am so sorry I have not phoned since I saw you at your flat all those weeks ago. Life in New York recently has been hectic. The demons and warlocks keep attacking innocent people. It's like they are asking to be vanquished,' said Isobel.

'Isobel, I did not phone you for a catch up,' said Paige. 'I have a problem. A magical problem.'

'Paige, what's up?' said Isobel, sounding serious.

'Well, I managed to cast my first spell, but it has gone terribly wrong…' said Paige hesitantly. 'I need your help to undo it. I got Phoebe stuck inside a mirror.'

'Okay, I will call Leo and get him to orb me straight to you,' said Isobel.

'No! He's here already, and besides I do not want him to know because then he would find out I am a witch,' said Paige.

'Who is here already?' Paige heard Phoebe say from the mirror. 'The only man in this house is… Leo? Are you trying to say he is a witch too?'

'Hang on a second, Isobel,' said Paige, putting the phone down as she turned to Phoebe.

'Phoebe, Leo is nothing to do with this. He is just an ordinary handyman. When I said 'here', I meant San Francisco. She was on about my dad, he's human but does not know my secret,' Paige lied.

Paige put the phone back to her ear. 'Isobel? Are you still there?'

'Yes,' Isobel replied. 'I just had a quick look in my potions closet. I am all out of teleportation potions. In the time that it would take me to whip up a new potion, I may have well just come to San Francisco by plane, so I will see you in five to six hours. Do you think you can last that long?'

Paige sighed. 'I need your help, and it is not like a demon or warlock are attacking. Thanks, see you around four. Bye.'

'Bye,' said Isobel. The phone call ended.

'So what's happening?' asked Phoebe.

'My friend is a witch in New York,' Paige said. 'She may know how to help. She is flying out here straight away.'

'By broomstick?' asked Phoebe with interest.

'Phoebe, witches don't ride broomsticks…' said Paige. 'I meant she is catching a flight by airplane.'

'Oh, well I am only new to the craft,' said Phoebe. 'How am I meant to know how much truth there is in the television shows?'

'Here's one thing,' said Paige. 'Does it look like we have green faces with warts? Do we wear pointy hats and cackle?'

The two women laughed.

Phoebe suddenly went pale again. 'I have flown from New York to San Francisco before. A flight takes over six hours, Paige. I have to wait around in a mirror for that long?'

'I will keep looking for ways to reverse this while we wait,' said Paige.

Paige sat on the sofa and continued to look through the Book of Shadows. She could hear Phoebe speaking from inside the mirror.

'I don't think I am confined to just this mirror, you know?' said Phoebe.

Paige looked up at the mirror. Paige's reflection and the mirror image of the attic had reappeared. Phoebe had gone.

'Phoebe?' called Paige. 'Phoebe?'

Phoebe walked back into view and Paige's reflection disappeared again.

'Wow,' said Phoebe. 'I have just found the fun side of this situation!'

'Where did you go, Pheebs?' asked Paige.

'I can go to _any_ mirror I want and snoop in that room!' said Phoebe. 'I just found myself in the foyer mirror. Leo was working with his back towards the mirror. It was a great view...' Phoebe smiled, thinking back to it.

'I don't want to hear anymore!' shouted Paige. She calmed down a little, and then continued, 'Phoebe, you have to be careful not to be seen. I am not against you going from one mirror to the next. Just make sure no one spots you. Prue and Piper will be so angry if they find out, and Leo…' Paige wanted to say he would be angry too, but as Phoebe did not know Leo knew anything about magic, Paige said, 'Leo will be freaked out.'

Phoebe nodded.

Paige spent the rest of the morning looking through the pages of the Book. She kept going back and forth between the pages. It was almost like the pages seemed to change order every few minutes. Trying to find her way through the Book of Shadows was like trying to find one's way through a maze.

While Paige did this, Phoebe would keep disappearing from the attic mirror. Every now and then she would return to it to ask if Paige had made any progress. Each time Phoebe asked this Paige answered with a no.

* * *

When one o'clock came around and Piper called Phoebe and Paige down for dinner, the two women panicked.

'Paige, you are going to have to think up an excuse to tell Piper,' said Phoebe.

Paige left the attic and walked into the kitchen. Piper was dishing food up onto three plates.

'Hi Piper,' said Paige. 'No Prue or Leo?'

'Prue has gone out to the video store with Andy, they want to find a film to rent,' said Piper. 'Leo is on his lunch break and refused my invite to stay here for lunch. Phoebe's earlier antics probably scared him off.'

Piper had her eyes on the food she was dishing onto the plates so did not see Paige roll her eyes. Paige really could not stand to hear Piper or Phoebe talk about Leo.

'Er, well, Phoebe went out,' said Paige. 'I am the only one here for dinner, and I think I will go eat it in the attic. Bye!'

Paige picked up a plate. She reached the staircase before Piper caught up with her.

'Phoebe went out?' said Piper.

'Yeah, she said she had something important to do,' said Paige.

'Do you think she found out Leo was going out for lunch and decided to go with him to flirt some more?' said Piper. Then she gasped. 'Oh my gosh, Leo is on a lunch date with Phoebe!'

'Piper. Phoebe is not with Leo,' said Paige, sick to the stomach with this topic. 'Phoebe went out because she left some important papers at the social work firm's office yesterday and she needed to get it because she needs to finish filling them out before Monday. I have got some work to do upstairs, so please leave me to eat up there in peace.'

Piper nodded and sighed. 'So much for the family meal this was supposed to be…' Paige heard Piper mumble.

Hearing that made Paige forget her troubles for a second. 'The Halliwells consider me family?' she thought.

On reaching the attic, Paige put the plate of food on the floor and continued to search through the Book of Shadows.

'That looks so tasty,' said Phoebe. 'I wish I could eat it. I am starving.'

* * *

As the light disappeared from the window (the sun was setting), Paige switched on the attic light. She looked at her watch. It was five o'clock.

'Isobel's flight should be getting here soon,' said Paige.

At seven o'clock, Paige decided to phone Isobel's mobile.

'Hi Isobel. It's Paige. Where are you?' said Paige.

'My flight was diverted. The plane was forced to stop in Chicago,' said Isobel.

'Why didn't you tell me?' said Paige.

'I have spent the last few hours trying to get in contact with any Chicago based witches to see if I can borrow their white lighters, or any spare teleportation potions they might have,' said Isobel. 'It is not easy to find other witches, when they all cast protection spells to hide themselves from demons and warlocks.'

'When do you expect to get here by?' asked Paige.

'Well, the next flight from here to New York is at eight, so if I cannot find any magical help before then, I will catch that flight,' said Isobel. 'So, we are looking at me getting to San Francisco about midnight. Tell me the address now, and I will make sure to come straight there when I land.'

Paige told her the Halliwell's address.

They said goodbye to one another and hung up.

'That was bad news, wasn't it?' said Phoebe.

Paige nodded. 'I cannot find any solution and Isobel will be taking a bit longer to get here.'

Phoebe and Paige looked up as they heard the doorbell ring from downstairs.

'Piper is probably answering the door. I will have a look to see who it is,' said Phoebe.

'Don't be seen!' shouted Paige, as Phoebe disappeared to go into the foyer mirror.

A few minutes later Phoebe returned. 'I cannot believe Piper is taking Leo out on a date! I mean Piper does not even like war movies! If I was not stuck in a mirror I so would have tagged along!'

Paige groaned. There was that demoralizing topic once again. 'Who was at the door?'

'Some girl who found Kit,' said Phoebe. 'I think she said her name was Aviva…'

Paige jumped up, recognising the name as their innocent.

'Paige, where are you going?' said Phoebe, as Paige unlocked the attic door. 'Prue just came in with Andy and was not happy to see Piper and Aviva in the house. You cannot go down there too.'

'Phoebe, I have to,' said Paige. 'I was told that your next innocent is called Aviva… I don't think it is that common a name. I have to go and see this girl…'

Phoebe nodded. 'I will meet you down there. I will be snooping from the living room mirror.'

Paige entered the living room. She saw Andy standing next to Leo. Andy was holding some popcorn. Prue stood with Piper. Prue had a video in her hand. Prue and Piper were trying to usher a girl out of the living room. Paige assumed the girl was Aviva.

Prue saw Paige enter and looked disappointed at Paige. Paige frowned. She had broken her promise to Prue. 'I'm sorry,' she mouthed to Prue. Prue angrily dropped the video on the floor as she continued to try and escort Aviva out. Paige picked up the video and looked at the title: 'Body Heat'.

'I'm… not leaving. Don't you understand? I'm one of you,' said Aviva.

She pointed at the popcorn and it began to rise.

'No,' said Piper.

Piper raised her hands to freeze time. Paige pretended to freeze. From her point of view, she could see Phoebe watching this all from the living room mirror. She saw Phoebe giggle silently as Phoebe now knew that Paige was only standing very still in order to pretend to freeze.

Aviva did not freeze. She continued to speak to Prue and Piper (who were equally astounded as Phoebe and Paige that Aviva had not frozen). As Aviva spoke to Prue and Piper, Prue and Piper continued to try and make her leave.

'Leave now or else,' said Prue.

'Or else what,' said Aviva. She saw the video in Paige's hands.

Paige suddenly felt the video become quite warm in her hands and could smell the burning plastic. However much it hurt, she had to try and stay still, she had to act frozen.

Prue squinted at the smoking video and it flew out of Paige's hands onto the floor.

'Thank you, Prue,' thought Paige. Her hands felt numb from the heat and she was sure they would blister the next day but at least the video was no longer in them. 'That video really was 'Body Heat'. Never seen such a fitting title in my life,' she thought to herself.

Aviva walked out of the front door, time unfroze, and the popcorn exploded everywhere.

'Hey, where did that girl go?' asked Leo.

Now that she could, Paige let out a gasp of pain. 'Ow, my hands,' said Paige.

'Paige, let's go to the kitchen and get those under cold water,' said Piper, accompanying Paige to the kitchen.

Paige heard the front door slam, realising that could be Prue's cover up for Aviva's disappearance.

'I think you may have done too much writing today, these burns could be caused by that Paige,' said Piper.

Paige shrugged as she left her hands under the cold water coming out of the tap. She did not feel like arguing with Piper. Especially as it was not fair to make Piper come up with a better excuse for what Paige knew had actually happened.

A few minutes later, Prue walked into the kitchen. She looked annoyed.

'So, was Phoebe the only one who actually listened to me?' said Prue. She stopped in her tracks, surprised at the words she had just uttered. 'Wow, that's a first…'

Piper turned to Prue. 'I was on my way out with Leo. He just had to go back for his jacket. And then Aviva turned up.'

'I was going to stay hidden in the attic doing my work, but then when I heard the squabbling, I came down to see what it was,' lied Paige.

'Well, I just had to tell Leo and Andy to go home because of a family emergency,' said Prue. 'I told Andy we would try the same thing again tomorrow, so please try and not be home when he comes.'

Piper sighed. 'Wow, we are never going to get dates if we have to keep telling guys this stuff.'

'I think I will go upstairs now,' said Paige.

Paige turned off the tap and left the kitchen. Prue followed her.

'Paige,' said Prue.

'I couldn't stop that girl turning up, Prue,' said Paige. 'I had no control over that. I am so sorry your date was ruined.'

'I know you couldn't control it,' said Prue. 'I am not mad. And you must have succeeded in getting Phoebe out of the house. I was surprised not to see her burst in when it all happened.'

Paige's stomach sank at hearing that last part. She felt so guilty.

'That girl, Aviva, is your innocent,' said Paige. 'I will be in the attic. Come up in around five minutes, without Piper, and I will pass you the Book of Shadows so as you can start researching for information to help your innocent. You can do it in the conservatory so as I can continue working in the attic. That way Piper does not have to come up with an excuse as to why you need to rummage through the attic cabinets. And you won't have to kick me out of the attic for the night to do your research.'

'Are you sure you cannot tell Piper and Phoebe that you know about magic?' said Prue. 'It would make this all so much easier.'

Paige shook her head and returned to the attic.

Phoebe was waiting in the attic mirror when Paige entered the attic.

'So are you going to carry on looking through the Book of Shadows?' asked Phoebe.

'I can't,' said Paige. 'I think you noticed me holding a burning video in my hands downstairs. I am going to find it too painful to flick through the Book of Shadows at the moment. Also Prue is coming up to get the Book in a few minutes. They want to try and see what the Book says about other witches.'

Phoebe said, 'So does that mean I am stuck in this mirror for definite until your friend gets here?'

Paige nodded. 'However, I have a task for you first. While Prue and Piper are looking through the Book, you could go and keep your eye on Aviva.'

'How do you expect me to do that?' asked Phoebe.

'Phoebe, did you say you can travel to _any_ mirror?' said Paige.

* * *

**A/N:** Dun dun dun. What is Paige going to ask Phoebe to do? Will Isobel ever turn up? Will Phoebe ever be freed from the mirror realm? Sorry for a longer than normal chapter, I kind of got carried away writing this chapter. Did anyone spot the season four reference hidden away in this chapter? Please review.


	9. The Fourth Sister (And Aviva)

**A/N: **To avoid confusion, I should say now that the title of this chapter means nothing. They do not find out about Paige being their sister in this chapter. This chapter is just a Paige and Aviva centric chapter, and I thought it makes more sense for 'the fourth sister' to refer to Paige than to Aviva. Please read and review! Enjoy!

I do apologise in advance. A couple of lines that Paige receives when talking to Aviva in this chapter are the exact lines that Phoebe says. I am not replacing Phoebe's role in this episode with Paige. It is just necessary for a scene or two. I always try to avoid doing this though.

* * *

**Chapter Nine:** **The Fourth Sister (And Aviva)**

Paige had sent Phoebe off to snoop on Aviva by travelling to the mirrors within Aviva's house. Paige now sat in the attic alone, trying to think through a plan of action. Prue had taken the Book of Shadows. Prue had also asked Paige to try and get a hold of Phoebe for Prue as Prue and Piper needed to talk to her about the Aviva situation.

It was now nearing nine o'clock and Phoebe still had not reported back to the attic mirror. Paige decided she needed some fresh air, and she would just tell Prue that she was out looking for Phoebe. Paige wondered how long it would be before Prue and Piper became worried that a demon may have taken Phoebe.

The fresh air did not help Paige's thoughts flow one little bit but she felt good to have escaped the suffocating atmosphere of the manor. At eleven, Paige returned to the manor. On opening the front door, Piper ran into the foyer.

'Phoebe?' Piper said. Then she saw Paige, and said, 'Hi Paige. I was hoping Phoebe would be back. We are just having a slight family emergency. Nothing for you to worry about.'

'I spoke to Phoebe in the library,' lied Paige. 'She said she was going to be there all night, because she wanted to get the work papers done in peace.'

Piper nodded. Paige was glad that Piper did not know Paige knew about them being witches. If Piper had known, she would have probably asked Paige to drag Phoebe home anyway considering the urgent situation.

In the attic, she saw Phoebe standing in the mirror.

'Hi Pheebs,' said Paige. 'Sorry, I had to clear my head and go for a walk.'

'That's okay,' said Phoebe. 'Since I got back, I have been listening in on Prue and Piper's plan of action on what to do about Aviva.'

'What happened when you went to Aviva's house?' asked Paige.

'Well, I found myself in their upstairs hallway mirror first,' began Phoebe. 'Aviva was yelling at her aunt about something. It was strange because I think the next mirror I walked into was Aviva's aunt's mirror. On entering that mirror, I had a premonition. It was of me in some newspaper office – I didn't see the name – and someone resembling Aviva's aunt was my boss…'

'Can we get back to the main issue?' said Paige.

Phoebe nodded and said 'Basically, the next mirror I found was in Aviva's room. On entering the mirror, my instinct told me to leave. It felt almost demonic in there…'

Paige's eyes widened. 'What happened next?'

'Aviva had finished arguing with her aunt and entered her room,' said Phoebe. 'She came straight to her mirror, so I had to leave the mirror. Fortunately, she had a little compact mirror on her desk, so I was able to listen from there.'

Phoebe paused to take a breath. Paige continued to listen intently.

'All I could see from her compact was the ceiling as that was the angle it was facing, but I could still hear Aviva. It sounded like she summoned someone called Kali,' said Phoebe. 'And then there was another voice speaking to her in the room, presumably this Kali person.'

'And you didn't see who this Kali person was?' asked Paige.

'No, I could only see the ceiling from the compact,' said Phoebe. 'However, the room was filled with a glow during the whole time that Aviva spoke to Kali.'

'Hmm…' said Paige, thinking.

'Aviva was moaning at Kali about Kali promising her that if she brought Kit back to us, we would accept her as one of us,' continued Phoebe. 'Kali realised Prue was the one who turned Aviva away and then told Aviva to try and get to us by using me. I feel so hurt that they would think they could use me like that. Why do they think I am the weakest? I mean I do not have any active powers _and_ I am the youngest, but that does not mean I am stupid enough not to know when I am being used.'

'Phoebe, I know you could talk about yourself all day but can we get back on topic please?' said Paige.

'Oh sorry,' said Phoebe blushing. 'Aviva told Kali that I was not there. Kali told Aviva to summon her again later after she (Kali) had had a chance to think things over.'

Paige nodded. 'Did you leave straight after that?'

'I tried going into the mirror that I had felt a demonic presence in again,' said Phoebe. 'It was like I got blasted back though, because I just could not gain access to that mirror… Then I came back here.'

'Thanks, Phoebe,' said Paige. 'I will find Aviva tomorrow and do some undercover work.'

Paige looked at her watch. After their long chat it was now gone midnight.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Paige headed downstairs to wait in the foyer for a knock at the door. Paige had a quick look in the conservatory. Prue was asleep with her head buried in the Book of Shadows. Piper was drowsily making coffee in the kitchen, her back to Paige.

Paige opened the front door and sat on the steps leading down to the front garden. A few minutes later she saw Isobel advancing up the street. When Isobel reached the manor, Paige hurried her up to the attic quietly, so as not to wake Prue or disturb Piper.

Phoebe was curled in a ball, fast asleep on her side of the glass.

Paige knocked on the mirror. Phoebe jumped up.

'Do you know how loud that sounds in here?' groaned Phoebe. She saw Isobel and added, 'Hi. I'm Phoebe Halliwell. Are you the witch that is going to help me out of here?'

'Hi Phoebe. I am Isobel Stratton. I have heard so much about you and your sisters. It is a pleasure to meet you,' said Isobel. 'Yes. Hopefully I can get you out of there.'

Paige yawned. She had been up since six that Saturday morning and it was now the early hours of Sunday morning. Piper may be able to manage the long hours, but Paige needed sleep.

Isobel knew this, so said, 'Paige. Get some rest. I will work up here tonight, okay?'

Phoebe added, 'Yeah. Don't worry about me. Isobel here will try and sort me out. I need you to spend the daylight hours of Sunday looking out for Aviva.'

Paige nodded. She left the attic, Isobel locked it behind her, and Paige went into the living room, falling asleep on the sofa in there.

* * *

Paige woke up with a start, as she heard Prue say, 'Yeah. Okay, so what? Eight o'clock?'

Paige looked around to see Prue talking into the phone. She had just picked up the burnt video off the floor. Prue jumped slightly, not expecting to find Paige on the sofa.

'All right, bye,' said Prue, staring at Paige. Prue put the phone down. 'Did you sleep down here last night?'

Paige nodded. 'The attic was too awake last night for my liking.'

'Okay… That makes no sense,' said Prue. She let it slide though as she knew Paige generally spoke nonsense before her morning coffee.

Piper walked into the living room. 'I have just been dodging Leo's questions about her. That was close.' Piper saw Paige. 'Hey Paige. Did you sleep down here last night? I did not hear you come downstairs.'

'Don't ask,' said Paige. She got up and left the room.

Paige entered the attic to get a change of clothes so as she could get ready to go out and do her part in watching Aviva.

'Any progress?' she asked, finding Isobel looking through a bag containing different herbs and spices.

Phoebe was asleep inside the mirror.

'I know what potion can reverse this now,' said Isobel. 'I just need to get the ingredients together. I may have to sneak into the kitchen downstairs.'

'Prue's a workaholic. She will have work today even though it is a Sunday. And restaurants are always open over the weekend, so Piper will be working too today,' said Paige. 'You should have the house to yourself soon.'

Isobel smiled. 'Great.'

'Thank you,' said Paige and she left the attic with her clothes in hand. Paige got ready in the bathroom and left the manor.

* * *

Paige called for Leo when she found herself in a secluded alley.

Leo orbed in. He saw where they were and frowned. 'Paige! You should not go walking around in dark alleys. This is the sort of place that demons love to kill innocents.'

'I am not an innocent,' said Paige.

'You're not a witch either,' said Leo. Paige winced at that thought, remembering that she still had kept that fact from Leo.

Leo continued, unaware of Paige's wince, 'The demons go after anyone they think is vulnerable.'

'I am not vulnerable,' said Paige. She put her palm up against the brick wall to support herself as she spoke to Leo. On touching the wall, she groaned at the pain. She had forgotten about her burnt palms.

Leo saw her blistered palms. 'I think this happened while we were frozen,' said Paige, leaving parts out, like the fact that she had not actually been frozen. 'I think Aviva has pyrokinesis.'

Leo nodded as he healed Paige's palms.

'Thanks, Dad,' said Paige. 'I actually had a reason for calling for you. Can you orb me to outside Aviva's house. I need to talk to her.'

'This is a job for the Halliwells, not you,' said Leo.

'I am trying to make sure everything runs smoothly, Dad,' said Paige. 'Please orb me there.'

Reluctantly Leo nodded. He took one of Paige's healed hands and orbed her onto a street.

'Good luck, Paige. Be careful,' said Leo. 'Talk to you later.' Leo orbed away.

Paige looked at her watch. She had actually woken up around noon. Prue and Piper both had afternoon shifts at their works that day, which would explain why they had still been in the house when Paige had woken up. It was now around two o'clock.

Paige approached the house which she instinctively knew was the one Aviva lived in and knocked.

After a few minutes, Aviva opened the door. 'My aunt is at work, go away,' said Aviva. Then she recognized Paige. 'You were at the Halliwell's house last night?'

'It's a manor not a house,' thought Paige. Then she nodded and smiled, saying 'Hi, I am Paige.'

'Are you a witch too?' asked Aviva, eagerly.

Paige was about to deny being a witch but then decided that if this would help save the innocent she may as well let her know. 'Yes, I am, but you cannot tell anyone. Not even the Halliwells. I live with them but I am like their undercover guide so they do not know. That is why I came to find you. Is everything okay in your life? I know about Kali.'

Aviva suddenly looked worried. 'You know about Kali?'

Paige nodded. 'Want to discuss this over some ice cream?'

Aviva shrugged. 'Free ice cream? And hanging out with another witch? Why not.'

On sitting down to eat some ice cream in a parlour, Paige began to ask her questions.

'Who is Kali?'

'She is like my teacher,' said Aviva. 'She teaches me magic. It's so cool. What are your powers?'

Paige did not want to admit she was less experienced with magic than a witch younger than herself, so ignored the question.

'Aviva, who is she though?'

'She's another witch,' said Aviva. 'Either that or a high priestess or something.'

Paige nodded. 'Is it possible for me to meet her?'

'Sure,' said Aviva. 'Will you show me around Halliwell manor? We can do it there.'

Paige nodded. She knew the house would be empty apart from Isobel and Phoebe. Therefore, there would be no Prue and Piper to answer to.

* * *

On entering the manor, Paige showed Aviva every room except the attic. When they entered the kitchen, Isobel was in there. She was busy making a potion.

'Hi Paige,' said Isobel. 'Who's your friend? Is this who Phoebe mentioned?'

Paige nodded. 'Is Phoebe still in the attic?'

Isobel nodded gravely. 'This potion should work though. I just need to make sure the conditions are right for this potion to work.'

'Okay,' said Paige. She turned to Aviva. 'You have seen everywhere. Now can I meet Kali?'

Aviva nodded. 'Can we use your room? We need a mirror.'

'My room is occupied at the moment, but I am sure Phoebe would not mind me using hers,' said Paige.

'She probably won't,' said Aviva. 'Kali said she was the coolest of the Halliwell sisters.'

Paige did not take offence by this considering Paige was not a Halliwell sister.

'Of those who are not Halliwells, where would we rank me?' joked Paige.

* * *

A few minutes later, they were in Phoebe's room, Aviva spoke to Paige for a little bit while looking into the mirror. Then Aviva asked to show Paige her power in exchange for seeing Paige's power.

'I don't have a specific power…' said Paige.

'You must have something,' said Aviva.

She took Paige's hand and shut her eyes. In the corner of her eye, Paige saw someone appear in the mirror and suddenly disappear.

'Was that Phoebe?' Paige thought to herself.

'She's giving it to you too,' said Aviva.

'Who is? Giving me what?' asked Paige.

'The power. Here, touch this,' said Aviva, giving Paige a potted plant. Paige touched it and the plant started growing. 'It's the power of heat. Your hand is like the sun.'

Paige gulped, too stunned to express anything.

'That's pretty cool, right?' said Aviva.

The bedroom door burst open.

'Phoebe, are you…' Prue stopped as she saw Aviva and Paige on the floor. 'Paige, why are you in here and why is your New York friend brewing a potion in the kitchen?'

'Prue, you were not supposed to be here,' said Paige. 'Don't you have work?'

'I do not normally work Sundays, Paige,' said Prue. 'They only needed me for a couple of hours.'

'Get out!' said Aviva to Prue. 'This is not your room!'

'This isn't Paige's room either,' said Prue.

'Calm down, Aviva,' said Paige.

The doorbell rang and Prue stormed downstairs with Paige in tow.

'Prue!' said Paige. 'I am so sorry. About Isobel. About Aviva.'

As they reached the foyer, Paige saw Isobel hurrying out of the kitchen.

'Isobel, go back into the kitchen. We need to get that potion done!' said Paige.

'Prue does not want me here,' said Isobel.

'Just go back in the kitchen, please,' said Paige.

Isobel nodded and returned to the kitchen. Prue stared at Isobel and Paige coldly as she closed the front door.

'That was Andy,' she said. She did not sound happy. 'I just had to tell him that I will talk to him tomorrow at one o'clock in Quake. He was definitely upset with me for blowing him off _again_.'

'I am so sorry,' said Paige. 'I totally forgot you had another date with Andy.'

'Are you going to explain why _she_ is here?' Prue asked angrily.

'Isobel?' said Paige. 'She's er…'

Prue shook her head. 'I'll ask about her later. Aviva is who I am on about now.'

Paige had temporarily forgotten about Aviva's presence.

'This is her house too, okay?' said Aviva who had followed them into the foyer. 'She can do whatever she wants.'

'Prue, she's your innocent,' said Paige. 'I had to get her to open up to me so as I could find out what's going on.'

'So you are using me?' shouted Aviva. She glared at Paige angrily and left the manor, slamming the front door as she ran off.

'Okay, Paige, now you can explain about Isobel,' said Prue, happy that Aviva had left.

Paige wandered into the living room and slumped on the sofa.

Prue followed her, her arms crossed, waiting for an answer.

'Prue, she is my friend from New York. You met her at my old flat once, remember?' said Paige.

Prue nodded. 'I did recognise her, but what I do not understand is why she is here making potions in our kitchen. Piper will not be happy to find ingredients missing.'

'We sometimes get together to brew potions. We like to keep a stash of potions in case trouble occurs, and it is more fun to make the potions together than alone,' lied Paige. 'I got a little preoccupied with the Aviva stuff though, so left her to do the potions alone.'

Prue nodded, believing Paige's lie.

'Has Phoebe been home yet?' asked Prue, changing the subject.

'Er, yes,' lied Paige. 'She said she was going to hang out with her friend Marianne today.'

'Paige, you should have told Phoebe there was a family emergency,' said Prue. 'Even though she does not know you know, she would still realise that the code 'family emergency' means witch stuff.'

Paige sighed at the 'she does not know you know' part, knowing that that was no longer the case.

Paige heard Isobel rush upstairs. 'I better go see what's up,' said Paige, leaving Prue gawping at her in the living room.

* * *

Paige found Isobel in the attic, looking at the mirror.

'Where's Phoebe?' asked Paige.

'I don't know,' said Isobel. 'I have finished the potion. All I need to do is throw it over the mirror that Phoebe is in.'

'And she is not here?' said Paige slightly worried. Then Paige tried reassuring Isobel and herself, 'Phoebe is allowed to wander mirrors. It must be boring for her staying in that one. I am sure she will be back.'

Isobel lowered her head in thought, concerned.

Paige suddenly remembered something and ran downstairs to the conservatory. Prue had the Book of Shadows open in front of her.

'Prue! Can you look someone up in the Book of Shadows for me?'

'Sure,' said Prue.

'Look up someone called Kali,' said Paige. 'It's to do with Aviva.'

The front door slammed and they heard Piper moaning at someone.

'Can you leave please?' Piper was shouting. 'You shouldn't be here.'

Piper walked into the conservatory with bags full of groceries, closely followed by Aviva.

Paige noticed the Book fly across the room into the kitchen. Prue was hiding the Book from Piper to stop Piper noticing that Prue had had it out in front of Paige who was not supposed to know anything about magic.

'You cannot keep butting into our lives!' said Piper.

'I'll deal with her,' Paige murmured to Prue. 'Just keep looking for that name in the Book.'

Paige ushered Aviva into the foyer.

'What's wrong, Aviva?' Paige asked.

'Kali,' said Aviva. 'I went back home to talk to her, and she told me she did not need me anymore, she said she had a better way of getting to the Halliwells. I think she's evil, Paige. I came here as fast as I could and I was trying to warn Piper but she will not listen to me.'

Paige was alarmed. She wondered how Kali was planning to attack the Halliwells.

'Aviva, go home now,' said Paige. 'I will make sure the Halliwells are safe, okay? And never try to contact Kali again.'

Aviva nodded. 'You will let me know what happens?'

Paige agreed. 'As long as you keep my secret.'

Aviva smiled. 'Bye Paige.' Aviva left.

Piper came running past Paige into the living room. 'Prue said she wants to talk to you in the kitchen,' said Piper.

Piper picked up the phone and dialled. 'Hi Marianne. Is Phoebe there?'

Prue was standing by the Book when Paige walked in.

'I just found an entry on Kali,' said Prue. 'It says she is 'an evil sorceress cursed into her own dimension. She appears in reflections and has the power to possess innocents and use them as pawns to steal a witch's power.' Do you think that she has been using Aviva to try and steal my, Piper, and Phoebe's powers?'

'She was the demonic presence Phoebe had sensed in Aviva's mirror,' thought Paige.

'That would seem right,' said Paige. 'Except for the fact that Aviva just told me that Kali said she did not need Aviva anymore to try and get your powers. Kali had found another way to do it. That is why Aviva rushed over here. She wanted to warn us – well, the three of you.'

Piper walked into the room, no longer on the phone.

'Phoebe isn't at Marianne's,' said Piper.

'Then where is she?' Prue asked. Prue and Piper turned to look at Paige inquisitively.

There was an explosion in the attic.

'Isobel?' shouted Paige.

'Phoebe?' shouted Prue and Piper.

The three women ran into the attic. In the attic, they found Isobel slumped unconscious in the corner. Phoebe stood on the floor of the attic. She was no longer stuck inside the mirror.

Her eyes looked demonic… Paige suddenly pieced it all together. Kali did not need Aviva anymore because she must have sensed Phoebe's presence in the mirror realm. Kali must have found out that Isobel was working on a way to bring Phoebe back to the real world.

Kali had possessed Phoebe.

Why possess an innocent, when you can hitch a ride to the correct dimension by possessing a Charmed One?

* * *

**A/N: **And it's another cliff-hanger. I hope you liked it. I know the original episode lasts over days and days, but I just wanted to shorten this one because otherwise Phoebe would have to be stuck in the mirror for too long, and Prue and Piper would get far too worried for the sake of the plot. Please read and review.


	10. The Fourth Sister (AndThePowerofThree)

**A/N:** Doesn't everyone just love an evil cliff-hanger? Here goes the last part of _The Fourth Sister_. Thank you for all the reviews so far! :) Keep them coming! Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter Ten: The Fourth Sister (And The Power of Three)**

'Phoebe?' said Piper. 'Are you okay? What was that explosion?'

'Hello Piper,' said Phoebe. 'That explosion was just Isobel freeing me from the mirror.'

Prue looked at Isobel's heap and then at Paige, before looking back to Phoebe.

'Piper, I don't think that is Phoebe,' said Prue.

'You're not kidding,' laughed Phoebe.

'Paige, get out of here!' shouted Piper. 'It's not safe!'

Paige did not argue. Paige left the attic and found the Book of Shadows in the conservatory. Prue had left it open on the Kali page. Paige skim read the page so as she could find out how to get rid of Kali.

On the page was written: 'To get rid of her: shatter her reflection.'

Paige reached the attic stairs and stopped. She knew that Prue and Piper would not want her in there while they were trying to save Phoebe. Mostly because Piper did not know Paige was a witch, so Piper did not want Paige finding out their secret. Paige sat on the bottom step of the attic staircase, listening to everything that was going on.

'Prue, Piper, please help me!' she heard Phoebe shout. Then Phoebe's voice grew dark again, Kali had regained control: 'Never mind. My power is greater than yours Prue. It's only a matter of time.'

'Prue, did the Book have a spell to vanquish Kali?' asked Piper.

There was a crash. They were most likely avoiding fireballs from Kali while trying to think up a plan.

'There was something about shattering her reflection,' Paige heard Prue say. 'I don't know how we can do that without hurting Phoebe though.'

'I can hear Phoebe's thoughts,' said the possessed Phoebe with an evil sneer. 'She has thought of a way. Too bad I am in control of her so she cannot tell you.'

'So Phoebe can hear us?' Paige heard Piper exclaim.

'And we know she can take back some control. She cried out to us for help just before,' said Prue.

'She is getting weaker,' laughed Kali whose voice now dominated over Phoebe's.

'Piper, we may as well try the Power of Three spell,' Paige heard Prue shout. 'If Phoebe hears us she may be able to join in.'

Paige heard the two sisters begin to chant: 'The Power of Three will set us free…' They kept repeating it. From where she sat, Paige could hear maniacal laughter coming from Kali, who knew it would never work with just the two sisters.

Paige just out of mere will power started muttering the chant in time with the two sisters from her position on the attic steps. 'The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free.'

Kali began to scream.

Prue and Piper had noticed this and began to raise their voices in confidence. Paige continued to say the chant in time with them.

'The Power of Three will set us free!'

There was a piercing scream and then Paige heard someone fall to the floor.

'Phoebe!' she heard Piper shout.

Paige tiptoed to the top of the steps, peaking into the attic.

Phoebe was sat on the floor, recovering from her recent possession. Her eyes were closed. Piper was hunched over her. Isobel was still unconscious in the corner of the room and Prue had wandered over to the mirror.

'I think Kali is gone,' said Prue. 'The Power of Three spell worked.'

Phoebe opened her eyes. 'I am starving. I haven't eaten in over a day.'

'Can we clear some details up first?' asked Prue.

Phoebe nodded, looking a little dazed.

'How did Kali take possession of you? You never met Aviva,' said Prue.

'I have been spending quite a lot of time around mirrors lately,' said Phoebe. Paige was happy that Phoebe had not decided to tell Prue the truth – that she was actually stuck in a mirror.

Piper laughed. 'And I thought Prue was the vain one around here.'

Phoebe giggled at this. Prue shook her head, smiling.

'Kali said that Isobel used a potion to set Kali free from the mirror though,' said Prue.

'Who's Isobel?' asked Piper. She then noticed the woman in the corner of the room. 'Oh my gosh! Is she okay?'

'Isobel is a witch friend of mine,' said Phoebe, covering up for Paige. 'We were just playing around with potions. We did not know that would happen. Promise.'

Prue gave Phoebe a strange look. Prue knew that Isobel was Paige's witch friend. Paige's heart sank. Prue had probably just figured out that Phoebe also knew Paige's secret, even if Phoebe knew more of the secret than Prue did.

'The Power of Three worked,' said Piper. 'Phoebe, you must have heard us… and joined in… but we didn't hear you…'

Piper was now at Isobel's side, propping her up, to see if she was hurt.

'I could hear everything but I could not regain control,' said Phoebe. 'I do not know why the Power of Three worked without me.'

Paige's heart began to pound. Surely, Paige's contribution to saying the Power of Three spell had not actually worked? Paige was not a Charmed One, so how could she have affected it. There were only three Charmed Ones and they all were in the room she was looking into at the moment.

'You have to have had some part,' said Prue. 'It could not have worked without you. It was our last option.'

'Look, I did not say the spell, I couldn't. It wasn't me,' said Phoebe. 'Besides, Kali was right. I had a better plan in mind that was more likely to work.'

'What was it?' asked Prue, curious.

'Piper could have frozen me while I was possessed!' said Phoebe with a raised voice. She was regaining her energy, recovering relatively quickly.

'You wouldn't have frozen though. You are a good witch,' said Piper. Isobel had come to and Piper was helping her to her feet very slowly, supporting her over to the attic sofa that Paige used as a bed.

'I wouldn't but Kali would have!' said Phoebe, slightly annoyed. 'I would have been dispossessed of Kali, and while she was frozen you could have pushed the mirror onto Kali, smashing the mirror in the process.'

'That would have given us seven years bad luck in the process,' said Piper.

'Yes but it would have been more likely to work than your Power of Three idea,' said Phoebe.

'Our plan did work though,' said Piper.

'How?' asked Prue. All three went silent.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, all five women were in the kitchen. Piper had cooked a meal for the five of them. She was giving Phoebe and Isobel extra helpings after what they had been through.

Phoebe and Isobel were struggling to answer Piper's questions. She was asking them where they met and when they met. So far the only answer that Phoebe and Isobel had agreed on was that they had met in New York.

Prue beckoned Paige to follow her into the hallway.

'You wanted to ask me something, Prue?' said Paige when they were alone in the hallway.

'Why did Phoebe say that Isobel was her friend and that she had spent the day making potions with Isobel?' said Prue. 'I know that Isobel is your friend, and you had already told me that you were making potions with her before you became preoccupied with the Aviva issue.'

'Er…' began Paige but Prue interrupted.

'Also, you were the one who said that Phoebe was at the library and then at Marianne's house,' said Prue. 'Neither were true, were they?'

'Well…' began Paige but Prue interrupted again.

'And lastly, the fact that Phoebe was so fast to cover up for you about why Isobel was there must mean that Phoebe knows that you know about magic,' said Prue.

Paige decided to tell Prue the truth, well most of it. Paige was going to leave out any part that indicated she was a witch. It was possibly going to turn into mostly a lie, so not really the truth, except for the bit about Phoebe knowing.

'When Phoebe came upstairs to try and find out why I was mad at her, she caught me reading the Book of Shadows, so I had to tell her I knew about you three, otherwise she would have probably thought I was a demon or warlock,' said Paige. 'Then Phoebe thought it would be fun to look through the Book of Shadows for a spell that she could cast. She found this reflections spell and said it, and it got her caught in the mirror. I had to cover for her all day while waiting for Isobel to get here, because Isobel was going to try and reverse it.'

'You could have asked me for help,' said Prue.

'No, I couldn't,' said Paige. 'I did not want it to ruin your date with Andy but then the Aviva stuff happened and your date was ruined anyway…'

Paige sighed. She was unhappy that Prue and Andy had had their dating plans messed up twice now.

The night went on and soon Isobel decided it was time for her to get a flight back to New York.

The Halliwell sisters and Paige bade Isobel good night.

It was getting late and as they closed the door on Isobel, Piper smiled. 'We finally had that family dinner. A day late, extremely late in the evening, and with one extra table guest, but we still had it.'

'One extra table guest? That was Isobel, but I am not your family either,' said Paige.

'Paige, we think of you as a family member,' said Piper.

Prue and Phoebe smiled and nodded in agreement with the middle Halliwell.

'You three have had me thinking,' said Paige. 'I want to find out who my real family are. I am going to start phoning around tonight.'

'I thought you lived with your dad?' asked Piper.

'He adopted me,' said Paige. 'I never knew my real family. They abandoned me. I have never felt like I needed to find my real family before, because he has been such a great father to me. Recently though, I have felt that I need to find the answers to that part of my life.'

'That is just brilliant, Paige!' said Phoebe. 'I'll help you!'

Piper smiled. 'Me too. I will just go and find where we have put our local phone books so as we can root through those too.'

Piper ventured into the hallway.

'I think this is a great idea,' said Prue. 'And maybe we could also meet your adoptive dad one day?'

Paige smiled but did not answer. 'You already have met him,' she thought to herself.

The four women found themselves in the attic ten minutes later. They were searching through old phone books, new phone books, and old newspapers to see if they could find any clue of who Paige's real family may be or where Paige's real family were.

* * *

Paige felt a tapping on her shoulder. This woke her up. She suddenly realised that she must have fallen asleep. The attic was dark and Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were all asleep on the attic floor.

Paige turned to see Leo standing over her. Leo indicated for Paige to follow him out of the attic.

Paige followed.

'Hi Dad,' said Paige. 'What are you doing here at this time?'

Paige glanced at her watch. It was actually around six in the morning.

'Maybe I should wake the other three up after I have finished talking to my dad,' Paige thought. 'We all have to be up for work in the next few hours.'

'Paige, do you know if anything particularly strange went on last night?' Leo asked.

'What do you mean?' said Paige.

'Well, the Elders can sense when the Halliwells use the Power of Three spell,' said Leo. 'The Power of Three spell is such a powerful spell that it can be sensed.'

Paige nodded. She was still half asleep after such a long night of research.

Leo continued, 'They sensed that Prue and Piper formed part of the spell, but there was a third person who was not Phoebe who partook in the spell. This has worried the Elders. They need to find out.'

'Why?' said Paige. 'Does it matter?'

'Of course it matters,' said Leo. 'This fourth unidentified person can contribute to the Power of Three spell when one of the original three are absent. If this fourth is evil, this could be very dangerous.'

'What if they are good though?' asked Paige. 'The Elders never seem to consider that something they don't know about could be a good thing.'

'Even if the fourth person is good, the Elders need to know about it,' said Leo.

Paige sighed.

'Any idea who it may have been?' asked Leo. 'Was there anyone else present?'

'I was out on the attic steps, listening, but they did not see me there. Oh, but Isobel was in the attic with them,' said Paige. She left out the part about muttering the spell's words in time with Prue and Piper.

'Isobel…' said Leo, thinking.

'I doubt it was anything to do with Isobel,' said Paige, worried that Leo was going to take Isobel to the Elders.

'Don't worry,' said Leo. 'The Elders are still looking into it.'

Leo went silent for a second and then another thought occurred to him.

'When I found the four of you in the attic, I noticed all the old phone books and newspapers…' said Leo.

'I want to find out who my real family are,' Paige replied before Leo had the chance to ask.

'You do know I have tried to find this out before?' said Leo.

Paige nodded. 'You never found them though, did you?'

Leo shook his head sadly. 'Either they have a strong protection spell hiding them from the magical world, or they are…'

Paige winced as she finished Leo's sentence. 'Or they are dead.'

'I am fine with you looking for your family,' said Leo. 'Remember, whatever happens, I will always be here for you. See you soon, Paige.'

Leo orbed out.

Paige returned to the attic and sat on the floor next to the sleeping Halliwells. She looked at her watch. It was half six in the morning now and the sun was beginning to rise.

'I will wake the Halliwells up in a minute,' Paige thought. 'I will just close my eyes for five minutes or so first.'

Paige fell back to sleep.

* * *

Paige woke up to a commotion. She sat up to see Prue running out of the attic. Piper followed Prue out.

Phoebe was stretching her legs as she walked across the width of the attic.

'What's going on?' said Paige drowsily.

'Prue was the first to wake up,' said Phoebe. 'She realised she was late for work straight away, and then she saw the time.'

'Wait, hold on a second,' said Paige. 'If Prue was late for work, then so was Piper, and so are we!'

Paige stood up and started to look for some work clothes.

'Paige, I wouldn't bother going into work,' said Phoebe. 'It is half three.'

'Half three in the afternoon?' said Paige in disbelief. She checked her watch to confirm it. 'Wow, we must have been exhausted after the Aviva and Kali situation and then all that research.'

Phoebe nodded. Paige heard Prue talking loudly downstairs.

Phoebe dropped the Book of Shadows on Paige's lap.

'What's this for?' asked Paige.

'You said you wanted to add a side note to that spell, didn't you?' laughed Phoebe, dropping a pen into Paige's lap too.

Paige turned to the page with the reflections spell on. 'Do you think it is okay for me to write in it?'

Phoebe smiled and nodded. 'So many witches have added to it before us. I cannot wait until I get to add a spell to it.'

'What I am adding isn't even a spell though,' said Paige. 'It is just a safety note.'

Phoebe and Paige laughed as Paige scribbled information about the reflections spell on the page.

There were hurried footsteps heard from downstairs.

'Why is there a commotion?' said Paige. 'I don't think it matters if Prue misses one day of work.'

Phoebe shook her head. 'Paige, Prue was supposed to meet Andy at one o'clock today, remember?'

'Oh no,' said Paige.

'She ran downstairs to phone him,' said Phoebe. 'By the sounds of it, Andy has not taken it too well.'

Phoebe and Paige ran down the attic steps onto the upstairs landing. Looking over the railings, they saw Prue put the phone down and sit on the bottom step of the downstairs staircase. Plant pots were knocked over in the room by a telekinetic force (Prue's distress causing it). Piper sat down next to Prue and comforted her.

'I don't think it went well,' Phoebe said to Paige.

'How could you tell? Was it the state your sister seems to be in? Or the fact that she is causing houseplants to fly around the foyer?' said Paige sarcastically. She did not mean to sound sarcastic to Phoebe. Paige could not help but think that it was all her (Paige's) fault that Prue was having troubles with Andy.

'What did Andy say on the phone?' asked Piper.

'He said that one of us was more interested in the relationship than the other,' said Prue. 'I told him I could explain, but he knew that I couldn't. What is worse is the fact that the reason was not actually witch related. It was actually something I could explain to him, but he wouldn't listen. Besides, it's not like I would ever place the blame on Paige. It was my choice to stay up with you three and research.'

Piper hugged Prue. 'I am sure you and Andy will be okay.'

Prue put her head in her hands. 'I asked whether this meant he did not want to see me anymore. He said he doesn't know what he wants anymore.'

Paige looked at Phoebe. Phoebe was frowning.

'I thought their relationship would last much longer than this,' Phoebe said to Paige.

'It is my fault, isn't it?' said Paige.

Phoebe shook her head. 'Of course not. Prue did not have to help you all night. She could have gone to bed there and then, but we all wanted to help you research.'

There was a silence between the youngest Halliwell and Paige. After a minute or two, Paige broke the silence.

'Phoebe, Prue knows that you know about me,' said Paige. 'She does not know the bit about me being a witch though… She kind of found out because your excuses did not add up to what she already knew.'

'Oops, sorry,' said Phoebe.

'Doesn't matter,' said Paige. 'I just thought I would let you know…'

'Did I tell you I am no good at keeping secrets?' said Phoebe.

'Well, you are going to have to keep this one,' said Paige.

So to sum up who knew what: Isobel knew everything that Paige knew. Leo knew everything except that Paige was a witch. He also did not know that Paige had blown her cover to Prue and Phoebe. Prue knew that Paige was the Halliwell's guide, but did not know that Paige was a witch. Phoebe knew that Paige was a witch. Neither Prue nor Phoebe had any idea that there was a connection between Leo Wyatt and Paige Matthews. Piper knew nothing.

Paige felt dizzy thinking about how tangled with secrets her life had become. There was something she knew for sure though.

Her quest to find her family in the public records had been unsuccessful. However, when she had been flicking back and forth in the Book of Shadows for a reversal spell the other day, there was one spell that had kept catching her eye. If her real family were dead, this spell would be one way of getting into contact with them in order to find out her origins and why they abandoned her: 'Hear these words hear my cry, spirit from the other side, come to me I summon thee, cross now the great divide.'

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed it. No evil cliff-hanger this time, unless you count Paige's decision as what to do next as a cliff-hanger?

I had to come up with a reason for Prue to miss the third date with Andy. I am a Prue/Andy fan, and I hate watching the season one finale because I do not think Andy should die (I am still contemplating whether that event will change when I get that far in the Charmed timeline in this fan fiction). However, I needed them to break up like they do in the canon so as Prue will cast the truth spell. Please review!


	11. The Truth is Out There (And Piper Knows)

**A/N:** The canon version of _The Truth is Out There… and It Hurts_ is one of my favourite episodes of Charmed.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: The Truth is Out There… and It Hurts (And Piper Knows)**

Paige had just spent the evening at the cinema with the Halliwell sisters. The whole evening had been wrecked by the discovery of a dead body. What was worse, when Phoebe and Paige had a moment alone afterwards, Phoebe had told Paige that she had had a premonition of someone else who was going to die in the exact same way.

On getting back to the manor, Paige went straight to the attic and called for Leo.

Leo orbed in.

'Paige?' he asked.

'Innocent. The Halliwell's innocent. Who is it?' said Paige.

'Paige, they do not have a current innocent to be looking out for,' said Leo, a little lost.

'Yes they do,' said Paige. 'Someone just got killed, and their death seemed quite demonic. Phoebe had a premonition of a very similar death. That person must be their innocent!'

'How do you know that Phoebe had a premonition?' Leo asked.

Paige noticed her slip up, so quickly said, 'I overheard her discussing it with Prue and Piper when I came back from the bathroom at the cinema.'

Paige was quite irritated right now and wanted an answer. Luckily her quick thinking had worked, Leo was convinced.

'The Elders did not say anything about an innocent, Paige. I'm sorry,' said Leo. 'I will go and find out right now.'

Leo orbed out.

* * *

The next morning Paige was the last to get up and go downstairs. On her way into the kitchen, she passed Leo, who was on his way out of the kitchen. On entering the kitchen, Paige heard Prue saying 'When are you two going to stop fighting over him and grow up?'

Paige rolled her eyes, turned around, and left the kitchen. She was not going to return to the kitchen until she knew they were onto a different topic of conversation.

On walking back along the hallway, Paige bumped into Leo again. As they were out of earshot of the Halliwell sisters Paige decided to resume their conversation from the night before.

'Did the Elders say anything?' she asked Leo.

'Sorry, Paige,' said Leo. 'They do not know anything. I think it is best for you to keep your eyes on the Halliwells, because it cannot be good if there is an evil out there that the Elders do not know about. The sisters may need your help.'

Paige nodded. Leo smiled and went back to work with restoring the manor.

Paige began to walk up the stairs. Prue hurried past Paige and then stopped.

'Morning Paige,' said Prue. 'Phoebe's just asked me to look through the Book of Shadows for anything that can help with finding out who our innocent and who our bad guy are. Do you mind if I go to the attic?'

'Go ahead,' said Paige. 'I was just heading for a shower.'

* * *

An hour and a half later, Phoebe and Paige were sitting at their adjoining desks at work. While Paige was busy getting on with work, Phoebe was using her work computer to surf the web to see if she could find information on the burns found on the victim's forehead.

At the end of their day of work, Paige turned to Phoebe and asked, 'Do you mind finding your own way back to the manor? It's just I really want to get this bit of work finished?'

'No problem,' said Phoebe. 'I wanted to head to the police station on my way back anyway to see what they know about this case.'

Paige was not staying behind to do more work. Once Phoebe had left, Paige drove to the library and went deep into the public records section which dated back centuries.

Paige buried herself in looking through the records for any sign of a family that could mean something to her. The problem was that she did not know what to look for. However, this was her last attempt, before she would try the summoning spell…

* * *

Paige woke up with her face buried in the books. She looked at her watch.

'Oh crap!' she said. She blushed as the early morning library customers all looked at her angrily.

It was seven thirty in the morning and she needed to go back to the manor so as she could have a shower, some food, and then go to work with Phoebe. However, Paige also knew that she did not want to go to work today. She wanted to try the spell…

It was eight o'clock by the time Paige reached Halliwell manor. The sisters were at the front door as Paige opened it. 'Morning,' Paige said.

'Paige, did that work take you all night to finish?' asked Phoebe.

'No, I finished the work before you left, Phoebe,' said Paige. She had no idea why she had said that – it was the truth, but why had she told Phoebe that after knowing she had lied to her the evening before?

'Okay…' said Phoebe. 'Whatever, I have to go, bye.'

'Wait, aren't you coming to work with me?' said Paige.

'Nope, I am off to the police station,' said Phoebe, walking down the street.

'Good,' thought Paige. 'That means I do not have to explain to Phoebe why I am not going to go to work either.'

'I better go!' Piper said. She looked concerned about something as she drove off.

'What's going on?' Paige asked Prue. Prue was putting her coat on as she was also about to leave.

'Cliff notes version, I cast a truth spell last night,' said Prue. 'I need to know what Andy would think about me if he found out I was a witch. Piper and Phoebe were in the house when I cast the spell, so anyone who comes into contact with us in the next twenty four hours will be forced to tell the truth. Unfortunately, it works both ways.'

'So you're forced to tell the truth too?' laughed Paige.

Prue nodded. 'Yes.'

'Good luck talking to Andy,' said Paige as Prue approached her car.

'Thanks, Paige,' said Prue.

Prue was about to leave but then she stopped and turned back to Paige.

'Oh, Paige, I need to verify something with you,' said Prue. 'Are you a witch?'

'Yes,' Paige had said it before she could stop herself.

To her surprise, Prue did not get angry. She only laughed.

'Phoebe let slip of your secret yesterday morning, before all of the truth spell stuff,' explained Prue. 'She told Piper and me that you were a witch. Don't worry. Piper just thought it was a joke. I realised that Phoebe must have been telling the truth considering what I already knew about you.'

Paige sighed. 'I am sorry I didn't tell you.'

'I don't care. You had your reasons,' said Prue. 'And unlike with Phoebe, your secret is safe with me.'

'Thank you,' said Paige.

The two women parted ways as Prue headed off to work and Paige entered the manor.

Paige saw Leo was working in the living room. Apart from Leo, she had the house to herself.

Paige tiptoed past the living room up the stairs. She did not want her dad to know she was there. She was not too sure how he would react to her decision to use the summoning spell (Also, as he did not know she was a witch, he would not know that she had the powers to make a spell work).

* * *

Paige did not bother to lock the attic door. If Leo did find out, a locked door would not stop him, he would just orb into the attic.

Paige placed candles in a circle on the floor. She lit the candles and followed each of the instructions exact to every detail that she read on the correct page of the Book of Shadows.

Paige began to read the spell:

'_Hear these words hear my cry, spirit from the other side,_

_ Come to me I summon thee, cross now the great divide_.'

Lights began to swirl inside the circle of candles. Two people appeared.

'Hello,' said Paige, smiling at the two women. Were they her family?

'Paige!' This voice was a voice she recognised and it was coming from the attic door. Paige turned to see Piper, at the door, looking completely stunned.

'Piper, I can explain!' said Paige.

'Phoebe was telling the truth! She was telling the truth when she said you were a witch!' said Piper.

'Piper, please let me explain!' Paige said again.

'What are you going to explain to me, Paige?' said Piper in astonishment. 'Are you going to explain why you did not trust me enough to tell me you were a witch? Or are you going to explain why you summoned my mum and Grams?'

'Your mum and Grams?' said Paige. 'You mean my spell did not work? I was trying to summon my own family.'

'Piper, come in here, and shut that attic door. You are letting a draft in with that open,' said the older of the two women in the circle.

'Grams, you are not exactly going to catch a cold, are you?' said Piper, closing the door and coming into the room. Then she said to the younger of the two women, 'Hi mum.'

'Er, Piper, I know you may feel like this is a nice little family reunion for you,' said Paige. 'I really wanted a family reunion of my own. I was trying to summon my family not yours.'

Piper suddenly looked concerned. 'Paige, do you think your family is dead?'

'Yes,' said Paige blatantly, the truth spell forcing the answer out of her. Then she decided to add an explanation, 'I cannot find any clues in the public records, so I thought this would be the next best thing to try.'

'Patty, do you think it is time you explain?' said Grams.

'I think I should,' said Patty. 'Paige, honey, your spell did work.'

'It did?' asked Paige, confused.

'Paige, I am your mother,' said Patty.

'What?' said Piper and Paige together.

'Does that mean Paige and I are sisters?' asked Piper.

'Half-sisters,' said Grams.

'You have different fathers,' said Patty.

'Who is my real father?' asked Paige. 'Is he alive?'

'His name is Sam Wilder,' said Patty. 'And yes he is alive.'

'Where is he? And is he human, like Prue, Piper, and Phoebe's dad? Or is he a witch? Or is he a white lighter?' asked Paige.

'We can't tell you that, honey,' said Patty. 'We had to give you up for your own safety. It is probably best if you do not know anything more about your father.'

'But mum…' said Paige. She felt weird. This was the first time she had ever called someone 'mum'.

'Paige, listen to your mother,' said Grams. 'She means best.'

'Let me ask this, Paige,' said Piper, with sudden confidence. 'Where is Sam Wilder? And is he human or a witch or a – I don't know what a white lighter is…'

Grams laughed. 'Piper, the truth spell does not work on the dead. We do not have to answer your questions truthfully.'

'Damn it,' swore Piper. Paige suddenly realised that was the reason why Piper had asked it so confidently. She thought the truth spell would provide a definite answer.

'Will you at least tell me why you gave me up?' asked Paige.

'We had to give you up because if the Elders found out about you, they may have stopped your sisters from becoming the Power of Three,' said Patty.

'Melinda Warren, the first witch in our family's ancestry, prophesised that from the Warren line there would soon be three powerful witches who would be known as the Charmed Ones,' continued Grams. 'It became clear to your mum and me that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe could be the Charmed Ones. Then you were born.'

'Sam and I were so worried that the other three girls would not get to live out their destiny if the Elders found out,' said Patty, tears in her eyes. 'I am so sorry, Paige.'

'White lighters? Elders? What are they?' said Piper, getting lost with some of the magical terminology that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe had not yet come across.

'I will explain that stuff later,' said Paige. She still had more questions to ask her mum. 'The other week, Prue and Piper attempted the Power of Three spell to save Phoebe, hoping that she would join in saying it with them. I was hiding on the attic stairs and started to say the spell in time with them…'

Patty and Grams exchanged looks.

'It worked because of you? Thank you for helping us to save Phoebe, Paige. If I had known you knew about magic, I would not have made you leave the attic,' said Piper. Then she turned to Patty and Grams, and asked, 'So is it the Power of Four now?'

'I spoke to my source, the one who goes to speak to the Elders for me,' said Paige, referring to Leo, but not wanting to say his name in front of Piper. 'And he said that the Elders sensed that the Power of Three was not quite right.'

Patty smiled. 'Your Grams and I saw this happen the other week. We discussed it. And we think that it is an interchangeable Power of Three. You can have any combination of three out of four of you for the spell to work. The Power of Three will be different when you are part of it, Paige, but what is amazing is that you can be a part of it. You are part of the destiny.'

'Hang on. There are only three powers… What is Paige's special power?' asked Piper.

'We can only guess,' said Patty. 'The Book of Shadows only refers to the 'three essentials of magic: Feeling, timing, and phases of the moon'. Therefore, we have no idea what power you could be granted, Paige.'

'You know what, mum,' said Paige, smiling. There were tears in her eyes. 'Getting to see you and Grams is amazing. Finding out that you are my family is enough, especially the news that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe are my sisters. You don't have to tell me anything more. If you were corporeal, I would hug you!'

Piper embraced Paige, pleased to have another sister and also to have found out why Paige had looked so familiar to them since they had first met.

'Piper!' they heard Leo shout from downstairs.

'We should leave now,' said Patty. 'It was great to finally meet you, Paige. My baby girl. The youngest Halliwell daughter.'

'Halliwell…' repeated Paige. That was her true family name.

Patty and Grams disappeared in a swirl of lights. Piper blew out the candles.

'Paige, I don't know whether or not to be mad at you for not telling me about you being a witch,' said Piper. 'Or to be so pleased about finding out that we are sisters. These are very mixed emotions, but you know what, I am too happy to care about being grumpy!'

* * *

As Paige followed Piper downstairs to see what Leo had wanted, Paige asked, 'I thought you left for work earlier.'

'No, I left to quickly put a parcel in the mailbox,' said Piper. 'My shift does not start until later, but I am going to try and get out of it. I cannot go to work, not today. I feel so relieved not having to hide this witch stuff from you anymore. You see Prue cast…'

'I know about the truth spell stuff,' said Paige. 'Prue told me all about it.'

'Really? She knew about you being a witch?' asked Piper.

They had stopped in the foyer.

'Yes and no. She knew that I knew your secret, because she found out that I was sent here to guide you three. When Phoebe let slip about my being a witch to you two, Prue connected the dots and realised I was one,' said Paige.

'And Phoebe obviously knows,' said Piper.

Piper looked hurt.

Paige felt really bad revealing to Piper how little she had known about Paige in comparison to her sisters.

'Piper, I was never supposed to tell any of you about this,' Paige said. 'They just found out separately and I had to ask them to keep it secret. You can be the one to tell them the biggest news of all, the one thing which you and I found out together.'

'I cannot be the one who tells them you are their youngest sister,' said Piper, smiling. 'That is something we should tell them together.'

The two sisters now walked into the kitchen where Leo was doing some plumbing work. He stood up to reveal a coffee stain on his shirt.

'Hi Piper,' he said. 'I only called for you because I had a little accident. Mind if I borrow your washer?'

Leo noticed that both Piper and Paige's eyes were puffy. This was due to the fact that they had both cried at the sister news, but Leo did not know that.

'Is something the matter?' he asked concerned.

'On the contrary, we are both extremely joyful,' said Piper truthfully.

Paige left the room. She felt a bit of romantic tension between Piper and Leo. Paige was grossed out by it. Far worse by the realisation that Piper was her sister and Leo had always been the father figure in Paige's life.

'I have to find my real father,' thought Paige. She ran to the attic and began to pack her bags. She wrote down Sam's name on a piece of paper, in case she forgot it. Not that she would forget something as important as the name of her real father.

Paige was no longer 'Paige Matthews'. Nor was she 'Paige Wyatt'. She was 'Paige Wilder'. Or would she call herself 'Paige Halliwell'?

Either way, whatever Paige decided to call herself, she was leaving the Halliwell manor to look for her real father, Sam Wilder.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh no! Is Paige really going to leave? Will Piper tell Prue and Phoebe what she has just found out? How will the sisters react to their new found sibling? Please review!


	12. The Truth is Out There (And The FWD)

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews for the previous chapter! Unfortunately, Prue does not make an appearance in this chapter – I did not realise that until it was pointed out to me. However she does get mentioned. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Twelve:** **The Truth is Out There… and It Hurts (And The Fictional Water Demon)**

Paige had finished packing everything she owned into her bags. Paige knew the manor was empty apart from Leo as Piper had been called into work even though her shift was not supposed to be until the evening. Therefore, Paige knew she could leave the manor without being noticed.

As Paige entered the foyer the front door burst open.

In came Phoebe followed by a nervous looking lady.

'Hi Paige,' said Phoebe. 'This is Tanya. Tanya, this is Paige. Paige is a close friend of the family.'

'Nice to meet you,' said Paige.

Tanya smiled.

Phoebe ushered Tanya into the living room and then came back into the foyer.

'Paige, why have you got all those bags with you?' said Phoebe.

'I am leaving to search for my real father, Phoebe,' said Paige, and then she muttered in annoyance, 'I hate this truth spell.'

'Really? I am finding it extremely handy,' said Phoebe. 'Paige, why now? Why –'

'Who is your innocent?' interjected Paige, before Phoebe could ask her a question. Paige knew that Phoebe had to answer.

Phoebe explained to Paige everything that had happened so far.

When she had finished Phoebe said, 'Don't you dare leave the manor yet. I am not done talking to you. I better go and see to Tanya and phone Piper to let her know what is going on. You go back to the attic and get the Book of Shadows.'

Phoebe was obviously annoyed with Paige. Paige decided she would have to wait until later that day before she could leave.

Paige took her time to return to the living room with the Book of Shadows. She was a little annoyed at her older sister for yelling at her, so much so that Paige was not too sure when she wanted to tell Phoebe about their family connection.

Paige walked into the living room to see Piper and Phoebe in the middle of a hushed discussion. Paige suddenly wondered whether Piper had told Phoebe. By Phoebe's annoyed look when she saw Paige enter the living room Paige realised that Piper had not.

'You took your time, Paige,' said Phoebe, taking the Book.

Paige shrugged. Piper and Paige walked into the foyer to talk privately.

'Why are you home so early?' said Paige.

'I quit,' said Piper.

'Wow, well done, Piper,' said Paige, pleased that Piper had stood up for herself. 'Thanks for not telling Phoebe about the family stuff yet.'

'That's okay. I think it is best if we tell both Prue and Phoebe at the same time,' said Piper. 'Plus Phoebe is really angry with you at the moment. And so am I!'

'She told you?'

Piper nodded. 'What were you thinking? You just found out that you are related to us and you decide to leave?'

Paige looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Piper. 'Don't act like things have changed just because Phoebe caught me in the act. I have to leave and find Sam. Once I have found Sam, I can come back.'

'Paige, you cannot just leave your sisters!' said Piper.

'Stop trying to guilt-trip me!' said Paige.

Phoebe stuck her head out into the foyer. 'Psst, Piper. Kitchen, please. I just had a premonition. You may want to know.'

Phoebe was obviously ignoring Paige's presence in the foyer. Paige did not mind. She did not care about what the premonition was. She did not care about helping the sisters (she could say 'her sisters' now) protect Tanya from the strange warlock. Paige was too preoccupied with the journey ahead of her: looking for Sam Wilder.

Piper and Phoebe were now in the kitchen, deep in discussion. Tanya was out of sight in the living room and Leo was elsewhere in the house. Either that or he had finished work for the day. Paige did not care where Leo was. He would not mind that she was off to look for her real father. He would have only been concerned if he also knew her connection with the Halliwells. She would tell him the next time she saw him, but until then, she would be searching for Sam.

Paige looked around the foyer floor for her bags. They had been there when she had left for the attic to get the Book of Shadows for Phoebe. Then Paige realised: Phoebe must have hidden Paige's bags to stop her leaving.

Paige marched into the kitchen.

'We'll be in the attic with the Book,' Phoebe said to Piper.

'Okay, be careful,' said Piper.

'You too,' said Phoebe.

Piper ran straight past Paige and left the manor.

'Prue needs her help,' explained Phoebe bitterly when she noticed Paige's puzzled look.

Paige nodded and then remembered why she had come into the kitchen.

'Where did you hi-?' began Paige.

Phoebe interrupted, 'Paige, I managed to get information from a police station today while dodging their questions. Do you think I am going to let you ask me where I hid your bags?'

Phoebe walked into the living room and beckoned Tanya to follow her to the attic with the Book of Shadows.

Paige followed, a few paces behind Phoebe and Tanya.

On the landing before the stairs to the attic, Paige stopped and grabbed Phoebe's arm so as Phoebe would stop and turn to Paige.

'Phoebe, will you-?' began Paige.

'Do you know what time it is, Paige?'

'Seven o'clock,' Paige was forced to say instead. 'Phoebe, where-?'

'Do you know when the 502 bus next comes along the street?'

'No,' said Paige. 'Oh, Phoebe, stop asking me random questions so as you can stop me asking you what I need to know!'

'I can do this all day,' said Phoebe, smirking.

Paige gave up and began to go downstairs.

'Where are you going?' shouted Phoebe.

'To look for my bags!' shouted Paige.

Paige heard the attic door slam shut. For a second, Paige hoped Phoebe would not mess the attic up as Paige had to sleep there. Then she remembered that she was half way through trying to move out of the manor so would not be sleeping in the attic again for a while.

Paige started to move furniture around in order to find out where Phoebe had put her bags.

While throwing cushions from the sofa onto the floor Paige looked up to see Piper standing in the living room. Piper was looking at her.

Paige stood up. 'Hey Piper. When did you get back? Is Prue okay? Where's Prue?'

'I got back a few minutes ago,' said Piper. 'Prue is fine. We vanquished the warlock. Prue went to talk to Andy. There are only a few minutes before the truth spell is over.'

'Oh,' said Paige. 'Do you know where Phoebe hid my bags?'

'She put your bags in the freezer, much to my dismay,' said Piper. 'However, I agree with her for hiding your bags. You cannot leave, Paige.'

'Why not? Why do you not want me to leave?' said Paige.

'I already lost one sister when she went looking for our own dad,' began Piper.

'Phoebe,' said Paige.

'Yes, I am talking about Phoebe,' said Piper. 'Prue and I practically lost her when she left for New York. And now I know that we have another sister – you – I do not want to lose you. Not straight after I find out who you are, just because you decide to go looking for your dad.'

'Piper, this is different,' said Paige. 'I have never met my dad before. My dad can explain things to me that your mum would not. You at least knew your dad when you were little.'

'Paige, please don't go,' said Piper.

Piper had followed Paige into the kitchen. Paige had removed her cold, wet bags from the freezer and was now making her way back to the foyer.

'Shouldn't you be going up to the attic and telling Phoebe and Tanya that it is safe for them to come down?' said Paige.

'I will tell them in a minute once you have decided not to leave,' said Piper.

'Piper, I have to go,' said Paige.

'Paige, there was one part of the truth spell which I forgot to tell you about.'

'What was it?' said Paige. The front door was now partially open, but Paige stopped to hear Piper out.

'You know how the spell finishes at eight?' began Piper.

Paige nodded. It was two minutes to eight now according to the grandfather clock in the foyer.

'So you know that you are going to forget all of this in two minutes?' said Piper.

'What?' shouted Paige. 'Prue never told me that!'

'I assumed you knew! I thought she would have told you already,' said Piper. 'Everyone who has come into contact with me, Prue, or Phoebe over the past twenty four hours will forget… And considering I was there when you found out about being our sister…'

'I am not going to remember…' said Paige as she connected the dots.

The clock began to strike eight o'clock. It was a matter of seconds before Paige would forget.

'Piper, I do not want to forget that you are my sisters or that I know the name of my dad!' said Paige.

'Paige, you are the one who is threatening to leave us!' said Piper.

'Yes but only because I have to find Sam!' shouted Paige.

The last chime of the clock rang. It was eight o'clock.

Paige blinked and wondered why Piper was looking at her. Piper looked distressed. Paige could feel her own cheeks were wet. She had just been crying. Why?

The last thing that Paige had remembered doing was rushing back to the manor from the library the morning before. It seemed like the day had passed in a blur that she could not picture in her mind.

'Piper..?' said Paige. 'Why am I holding wet, heavy bags?'

'No reason,' said Piper. 'There was a, er, water demon in the attic. When it attacked us, it flooded the attic. All your stuff got wet, so you brought it down here and were about to drop it off at the dry cleaners.'

'Okay…' said Paige, not completely convinced. 'Why can I not remember anything? And why were you okay with telling me about a demon? Do you know that I know about you three?'

'Oh… Oh yeah, Phoebe told Prue and I that you are a witch and that you are here to guide us,' said Piper. 'We are fine with that. I do not know why you could not tell us.'

'Yeah, okay. Why can I not remember anything?' said Paige.

'Oh, Prue cast a twenty four hour truth spell,' said Piper. 'Anyone who came into contact with us over that time forgot about it all.'

Paige nodded. That part seemed familiar to her. Then Paige remembered what she had wanted to do that day at the manor and thought it would not hurt if she asked Piper whether she had done it.

'Piper, when I came back to the manor this morning, I was going to try contacting my family via the 'summoning the dead' spell in the Book of Shadows,' said Paige. 'Do you know if I did that today?'

'Er,' said Piper.

Phoebe came down the stairs with a woman before Piper could reply.

'I guess the you-know-what is over,' said Phoebe.

Piper nodded.

'Er, Phoebe, where is the nearest bathroom?' asked the woman. Phoebe pointed across the hall and the woman ran into the bathroom.

'Who was that?' said Paige.

'Tanya, you met her earlier,' said Phoebe irritably, noticing the bags in Paige's hands.

'Did I?' said Paige.

'Phoebe, Paige is probably just as confused as Tanya is right now,' said Piper. 'Considering the truth spell has just ended.'

'Oh,' said Phoebe, looking from Paige to Piper and then back to Paige. 'Well, I am still mad at you, Paige.'

'For what?' said Paige.

Before Phoebe could reply, Piper said, 'Phoebe thought you were leaving, when in actual fact you were just taking your clothes to the dry cleaners.'

'Oh…' said Paige, still not entirely convinced. She could not argue though because she was so unclear over what had happened over the day.

'Piper, she actually told me that she was going to leave and search-' Phoebe started but stopped. Piper was glaring at Phoebe, mouthing at her 'Not now.'

'What is going on?' said Paige.

The phone rang, and Piper happily left the foyer to answer it.

'Phoebe, what is going on?' said Paige.

'You know what, Paige. I do not actually know… I need to speak to Piper about that…' said Phoebe.

Piper came back into the foyer looking quite happy. 'That was Martin. Apparently I am late for an extra night shift right now.'

'Didn't you quit?' said Phoebe.

'Piper, you quit? That is great!' said Paige, ecstatic for her friend's courage at standing up to her boss.

'Yes, I did quit,' said Piper. 'The one time I stand up for myself and quit: Martin has no memory of it!'

'So what did you say?' said Phoebe. Both she and Paige were now wondering why Piper was so happy.

'I stood up to him on the phone just now. I told him that if I was to continue working there, he would need to hire more staff, and he agreed!' said Piper. 'And then I reminded him that tonight was my night off so I would not be coming in!'

'Piper, this truth spell stuff really has given you some confidence even if it is over now!' said Phoebe.

'Hang on, why do we remember?' said Piper.

'Truth or consequences. Wiccan rule, right?' Phoebe said.

Paige left the manor with her soggy bags. She knew Phoebe was going to start talking about spells and personal gain. She had heard similar things growing up when hanging out with Isobel. Paige got in her car to make her way to the dry cleaners. Even if she did not entirely believe Piper's answers, her clothes were still for some reason soaking wet.

Paige knew that Piper knew something that Paige did not know. Did Piper know that Paige was Leo's adopted daughter? Did Piper know that Leo was a white lighter? Surely there was nothing other than that about Paige that was left for Piper to find out? What did Paige not know?

* * *

**A/N:** Do not think that Piper is cruel. She just did not want to lose her sister. I am not too sure when Piper will tell Prue and Phoebe the news, but I do know when Paige will find out what Piper knows. Please review!


	13. The Witch is Back(And The Prandy Affair)

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews. I realise it is distressing that Piper has kept this from Paige but Paige will find out again (even if this does not happen within _The Witch is Back_.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: The Witch is Back (And The Prandy Affair)**

Paige was still not clear on the events that occurred on the day of Prue's truth spell. However, what she knew for sure was that Prue and Andy were no longer together, Piper was hiding something from Paige, and that Phoebe and Paige were both on a very loose thread when it came to keeping their jobs at the firm. Over one fortnight, they had both missed the same two days of work as each other without giving the firm a good reason. Therefore, Phoebe and Paige were trying not to have any magical problems get in their way of attending work. Prue and Piper seemed to manage it without being threatened with a firing, so why couldn't they?

Their lunch hour was about to start, and Paige turned to Phoebe, who had become totally engrossed in reading a case file she was meant to be typing up.

'Er, Phoebe, you are not supposed to read them, just copy them onto the computer,' said Paige.

'This is just so interesting,' said Phoebe. 'If I was the social worker who assessed this woman, I would tell her just to date the best friend instead. He seems a lot nicer.'

'Phoebe! This is confidential stuff. Just type it up!' laughed Paige. 'Also, they are social workers, they do not give relationship advice.'

Phoebe laughed. 'I will type up this report in a second. Reading it will help me type it up faster after.'

'Whatever,' laughed Paige. 'I am going out for lunch. Want to come?'

'No thanks, but could you bring me back a chicken salad please?' said Phoebe.

'Sure,' said Paige.

* * *

The day was quite nice, so rather than taking her car, she decided to walk to the nearest café. The nearest café just so happened to be at the street level of the office blocks that Bucklands was in.

As Paige approached the café, a window from one of the office blocks exploded. Glass rained down onto the floor, followed by a man, who landed upright, unharmed on the street just outside the café.

'Oh my…' began Paige.

As the strange man walked off down the street, Paige looked up at the broken window the man had exited by. Looking out of the window was a pale faced Prue. Paige caught Prue's eye, and Prue motioned to Paige that she would be down there in a minute to explain everything.

A few minutes later, Prue came walking up to Paige. Prue was busy talking on her phone.

'Phoebe, you have to go back to the manor now,' said Prue. 'I am on my way. Paige is with me. We will meet you there. Okay, bye.' Prue put her phone back into her bag.

'Prue, how is Phoebe getting home if I am with you?' said Paige.

'Phoebe said you left your car keys at work,' said Prue. 'She is going to use your car.'

'Prue, what happened here? Who was that man?' said Paige.

'He called himself Matthew Tate,' said Prue. 'I think he is a warlock of some kind. The main issue is that he copied my power.'

'Not good,' stated Paige.

Prue had reached her car. A police car rushed past, probably on its way to the scene they had just left. Paige thought she saw Andy sat in the driver's seat of the car.

'Prue, I think you should go back there and talk to Andy,' said Paige.

'What is there to talk about?' said Prue. 'We will only be going in circles again with him asking me for an explanation as to why I was involved with something and me lying to him. Only this time, Paige, I know that if I did tell him the truth, he would not be able to see a future with me.'

'Prue, I am sorry,' said Paige. 'I did not mean it like that. I just meant that I still think you two can work out.'

Prue frowned. 'If you can come up with a way for me and Andy to be together happily, then please let me know.'

Paige sighed.

When Prue pulled up onto the driveway, Paige got out of the car and entered Halliwell manor. Prue was still in the car as Rex had just phoned her.

Paige heard voices in the kitchen, so she headed for the kitchen.

Leo was crouched on the floor under the sink. Piper was standing over him with a bucket, and Phoebe was taking imaginary photos of this with her hands.

'Looks like a Kodak moment to me,' said Phoebe.

'What the-?' began Paige. This was definitely really strange to walk in on, especially considering that Leo was like a dad to Paige.

Phoebe jumped at Paige's voice and Piper's surprise caused the room to unfreeze, so the tea fell into the bucket and Leo continued to work.

Piper moved away from Leo, and dropped the bucket and tea in the sink.

'Hi Paige, I did not see you come in,' said Piper. She was evidently embarrassed.

'Prue wants you two to meet her in the attic,' said Paige. 'Come on.'

* * *

When Prue met Piper, Phoebe, and Paige in the attic, Prue began to explain everything that had happened. Then they began discussing Melinda. Then Prue showed them the locket and Phoebe had a premonition of the past. This was a surprise to the sisters, but not to Paige, as Leo had already told her that this was a feature of Phoebe's powers.

Suddenly Paige's phone rang.

'One second,' she said to the Halliwell sisters as she went to answer it.

'Hello?' said Paige.

'Paige.' It was Leo. 'Can you come downstairs please?'

'Sure,' said Paige.

Paige hung up her phone and noticed the sisters had gotten photo albums out and were starting to look for their ancestor amongst them.

'I will be right back,' said Paige.

Paige left the attic, went downstairs, and found Leo sitting in the conservatory.

'Hey Dad,' said Paige. 'Everything okay?'

'I believe you already know who the innocents are?' said Leo.

'Er, no,' said Paige. 'I know that the bad guy is some seventeenth century warlock called Matthew Tate. The only people he is after though are Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. Surely they are not their own innocents?'

'They are not their own innocents, but as they are my charges, and you are basically my apprentice – even though you are not a white lighter – that makes them your charges too.'

'So what you are trying to say is, this is one time when I really do need to keep my eye out for them?' said Paige.

Leo nodded. 'Matthew Tate is dangerous. He is the reason why Melinda was burned at the stake. He has already copied Prue's power and Prue is supposed to be the most powerful of the Halliwell sisters. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe need you. Plus Matthew is going out of his way to find Piper and Phoebe. Therefore, anyone he harms on the way is an innocent.'

Paige nodded. 'So the Elders finally decided to listen to me about the innocent bystanders being killed thing after what happened at the wedding?'

'The Elders did not say that, Paige,' said Leo.

'Well, of course they would never admit it,' said Paige.

'You are managing to keep your secret from them quite well,' said Leo, changing the topic.

Paige smiled, while inside she was thinking, 'Well, actually, instead of that, I have managed to keep many secrets from you, Dad.'

Leo turned on the television.

'You are going to watch television? At a time like this?' said Paige.

'I can sense the girls are on their way downstairs, and I know there is something important on the news which I need to point out,' said Leo.

Paige shrugged. She recognised the building that Bucklands was in on the television. The news reporter was going over the events of that lunchtime.

The sisters came into the conservatory and Leo pointed out to Prue that her work was on television. Paige left the conservatory. She needed some air and wanted to go for a walk.

* * *

On her way down the manor steps, she bumped into Andy.

'Hi Andy,' said Paige.

Andy stopped. 'Hi. I don't think we have officially met before. You are Paige, right? Prue has mentioned you.'

Paige smiled and nodded.

'Anyway, I need to go and speak to Prue,' said Andy.

'Andy,' said Paige.

Andy had begun to walk up the steps to the front door but stopped, and turned back around to see what Paige wanted.

'Prue is not in,' Paige lied.

'Where is Prue, then?' said Andy. He walked back down the steps towards Paige.

'I don't know, but she is not at home,' said Paige. Paige knew she could not say Prue was at work. That would have been the first place Andy would have checked.

'A man fell out of Prue's office window. Which is suspicious enough. But then a man matching the same description went and killed a lawyer down the street. A lawyer named Halliwell. Now I know she knows who he is. One more time, Paige, where is Prue?'

'I don't know, Andy,' said Paige. 'Considering you will not be going into the manor now, and I was about to go for a walk, will you walk with me? I want to talk to you.'

Andy looked hesitant about whether or not to try knocking on the door of the manor. Paige was hoping that Andy would walk with her, as he would be hoping to find out where Prue was by talking to Paige. Luckily, this appeared to have crossed Andy's mind too.

'Sure, Paige,' said Andy. 'I will walk with you.'

'Good,' said Paige.

They began to walk along the street.

'You and Prue broke up,' said Paige.

'Yes, I know that, I was there,' said Andy. 'You were not there.'

'You two should be together,' said Paige.

'Paige, I do not even know you that well. Why are trying to give me relationship advice?' said Andy. He was obviously slightly disgruntled because he had not managed to find out where Prue was yet.

'We do not know each other that well, no,' said Paige. 'However, I know Prue quite well. And she seemed so much happier when she was dating you than she has been since you two broke up.'

'You act as if I wanted it to end! Prue ended the relationship, not me,' said Andy.

'Andy, she did not want to end it with you,' said Paige. 'She felt like she had to.'

'Why would she feel like that?' said Andy. 'I know she is hiding something from me. All I wanted was to know what it was.'

Paige suddenly realised that Andy was close to asking her what the secret was, and she did not want to have to lie to Andy.

'Andy, maybe I should not be talking to you about this stuff,' said Paige.

'Anyone would think you and the Halliwells were related!' said Andy. 'I mention one thing about a secret and you suddenly close up and go all quiet! That seems like a Halliwell trait to me.'

'Well, I am not a Halliwell, so you don't have to worry,' said Paige, a little annoyed at Andy's rudeness.

Andy and Paige had circled the block on their walk and were now back outside Halliwell manor. They stopped.

'Paige, I am sorry. I did not mean to shout,' said Andy. 'I just know that Prue is keeping something from me. And considering my current case has something to do with her, I need to talk to her. A lawyer died in the hands of the man I am after, and Prue knows something about him!'

Paige began to walk up the manor steps and Andy followed her.

'I told you, Prue is not in,' said Paige.

'She may have come back while we were on our walk,' said Andy.

Paige sighed. Andy was hard to shake off.

'Wait here. I will go in and find out,' said Paige. She opened the door and closed it on Andy.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were passing the foyer as they were on their way up the stairs.

'Prue, upstairs quickly,' hissed Paige. 'Piper, you may as well go with Prue.'

Piper ushered Prue upstairs, unsure of what Paige was on about.

'Pheebs, Andy is on the other side of the door. He wants to talk to Prue,' said Paige. 'Just get rid of him, please. I have tried without success.'

Phoebe nodded. 'We were on our way to the attic. You may as well join the other two up there.'

Paige nodded. Paige ran upstairs to the attic.

* * *

Prue and Piper had placed a small table in the middle of the attic and were placing candles on it.

'Hey Paige,' said Piper. 'I hope you don't mind that we are setting this up in the attic. We could always find somewhere else to do this, considering this is your room.'

'I don't mind,' said Paige. 'What is it that you are doing?'

'We are going to summon Melinda Warren,' said Prue.

'That was your ancestor, right?' said Paige.

Prue and Piper nodded.

'We are hoping that she can help us vanquish Matthew,' said Piper.

'Cool,' said Paige. 'Can I help you set up?'

Prue handed Paige some items and told her where they needed to go.

Phoebe entered the attic. She explained to Prue about how she had to stop Andy coming in to talk to her.

'Great, so now I'm being hunted by a warlock and the San Francisco P.D.,' said Prue.

'Er, Prue, you are not being hunted by a warlock,' said Paige. 'Just the police, well actually just Andy.'

'What do you mean by that?' asked Prue.

'Matthew is not hunting you, he already has your power,' explained Paige. 'He is only hunting Piper and Phoebe as it is their powers he needs.'

'No, Paige, I understood that part,' said Prue. 'What I meant was: What did you mean by it's not the police department that's hunting me down, but Andy?'

'Oh, well, I just meant that…' Paige was trying to think of a way of saying it nicely. 'Prue, Andy still likes you. I know that when you told him under the truth spell that you were a witch, he said he could not see a future between you two, but… I think if you tell him again, under a different situation, things will go differently.'

Prue looked slightly irritated at where this topic was going. 'Please can you stop hassling me about Andy? It's not like you are my sister, it is not your job to hassle me over boyfriends.'

Paige saw Piper flinch at the word 'sister' for some reason in the corner of her eye. Paige ignored this as she was not done talking to (or was it now arguing with?) Prue.

'I may not be your sister, but I don't see Piper or Phoebe trying to help you like I am,' said Paige. She was getting annoyed. 'I am your friend, and I want to see you happy.'

Paige stormed out of the attic. She was so angry that it took her a few seconds to realise that she had basically just stormed out of her own bedroom, so she went and dumped herself on the sofa in the living room.

* * *

Piper came down a few minutes later and sat next to Paige.

'Are you okay, sweetie?' said Piper.

'Of course not,' said Paige. 'Prue still loves Andy. Andy still loves Prue. The only thing holding them apart is magic. The stupid secret!'

'She did tell Andy though. The truth spell…' reassured Piper.

'Yes, but I think under different conditions, he would not have minded,' said Paige.

'You can't know that,' said Piper.

Paige sighed. 'I know… it's just…'

'Piper.'

Piper and Paige looked up at the living room entrance.

Prue had walked in. 'Piper, we need you upstairs. We are about to cast the summoning spell for Melinda.'

Piper nodded. 'Do we need Paige?'

Prue shook her head. 'The spell will only work with the blood of those related to Melinda. So we don't need Paige.'

Piper laughed nervously. 'Oh yeah, of course we don't need Paige.'

'I will be up in a second,' said Prue.

Piper got the hint that Prue wanted to talk to Paige alone, so Piper left the living room for the attic.

'Paige,' Prue began as she sat down next to Paige.

Paige stopped her. 'Prue, I should be the one apologising to you. I shouldn't be meddling in your love life. You're right. It's just…'

'It's just that you care,' said Prue. 'Which is why I should not have gotten angry at you.'

Paige laughed. 'It's not like Andy didn't get annoyed at me earlier either.'

'Andy? When did you speak to him?' said Prue surprised.

'He would have knocked on earlier to try and find you at the manor if I had not have gone for a walk with him,' said Paige. 'I wanted to find out his side of things when it comes to the two of you.'

'Paige…' said Prue. 'Really you do not need to worry about me and Andy. What will happen will happen.'

Paige nodded. 'Don't you have an ancestor to summon and a warlock to vanquish?'

Prue smiled. 'I better go back to Piper and Phoebe. Oh, Paige, can I have the knife back?'

'Knife?' Paige asked.

Paige looked at the box of items which she had carried downstairs with her when she had stormed out of the attic. These were the remains of the items that she had been helping to set up in the attic. The one remaining item in the box was a sharp knife.

'Oops, sorry,' said Paige, passing Prue the box. 'What do you need the knife for?'

'I said the spell involved blood, didn't I?' said Prue.

'Oh yeah. Okay. I am kind of glad that my blood is no use to you then,' said Paige. 'I can already see Piper being a little squeamish at that.'

Prue laughed. 'We should be done soon, and then you can meet our ancestor…'

'… The first in the Warren line of witches,' finished Paige.

'You can come and watch if you want,' said Prue.

'Go without me, I don't want to ruin your focus,' said Paige. 'You might end up summoning the wrong person.'

Prue smiled and left the living room, going up the stairs.

* * *

Leo orbed into the living room.

'Dad! Why did you do that?' hissed Paige. 'Prue, Piper, or Phoebe could have been in here!'

'The Elders know that they are summoning Melinda Warren right now,' said Leo.

'Oh, are they in trouble?' said Paige.

'No, they are not,' said Leo. 'The Elders sent me here to meet Melinda.'

'Will she know who you are?' said Paige.

'She will not know me personally but it is very likely that she will realise I am the Halliwell sisters' white lighter,' said Leo.

'Wouldn't that ruin the point of you being undercover?' said Paige.

'Melinda would know better than to let the girls know who I really am,' said Leo.

'If that's what you think,' said Paige. 'How comes the Elders want you to meet her?'

'I just need to check that their spell went correctly,' said Leo. 'The number of summoning spells by inexperienced witches that have gone disastrously wrong because a demon intercepted the spell…'

'You mean that sometimes a demon pretends to be the person that the witch has summoned?' said Paige.

'Yeah,' said Leo. 'It's the perfect plan. Morph into the person the inexperienced witch has summoned. Intercept the spell by shimmering in at the right moment. Pretend to be the summoned person for a while so as you earn the inexperienced witch's trust. Then, when their guard is down, attack.'

'Wow,' said Paige. 'Demons go to some extremes just to kill witches.'

There was noise as four people came down the attic steps. By the sounds of it, they walked into one of the bedrooms.

'Mind if I go up there first?' said Paige.

'Why not,' said Leo. 'Just remember to pretend to be ignorant to the magical stuff.'

'I have been doing this for a while, don't you think I do that everyday while living with the Halliwells,' said Paige. That lie felt bad, but Paige did not want to see Leo's reaction if she told him that they knew that she knew their secret, plus the other stuff that Leo did not know, but the Halliwells did: Paige was a witch.

* * *

Paige found the four of them in Phoebe's room. Melinda was trying on dresses.

'Nice dress,' said Paige.

Melinda and the sisters looked up to see Paige standing at the doorway.

'Heads up, Leo may be on his way upstairs any moment, so you may want to be coming up with an excuse for why Melinda is here,' said Paige.

Prue smiled. 'Paige, meet Melinda. Our ancestor, the first witch of the warren line.'

'Nice to meet you,' said Paige.

'It is nice to meet you too,' said Melinda. 'You three did not tell me that there was a fourth Warren witch living in the household.'

'Excuse me?' said Paige astounded at this declaration.

* * *

**A/N:** Oops, did I just write in a cliff hanger? So is Paige a descendant of the Warren family? Well, that part is obviously a yes. Will this all be cleared up in the next chapter?


	14. TheWitchisBack (AndMatthewsMeetsMatthew)

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews. A few answers to a few of the reviews in no particular order: **1.** Cliff hangers are unfortunately an interesting way to end chapters. **2.** Although Paige being Leo's adopted daughter is there, I am not focusing too much on it until the other aspects are out there: sister, witch, half white lighter etc. **3.** Yes, I do have my own reasons for Piper not telling them. There are perfect episodes for the secrets to come out in. Unfortunately, there are other episodes that I have to go through first. **4. **There are loads of season one and two episodes I am looking forward to rewriting for this fanfic. Unfortunately I have to wait until I get to them before I can write them. **5.** As to how Piper is handling hiding the secret – have you noticed Piper wince every time 'Paige' and 'sister' is mentioned in the same sentence?

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: The Witch is Back (And Matthews Meets Matthew)**

'She is another sister? Or she is your cousin at the very least?' quizzed Melinda.

'No, of course she is not,' said Piper nervously. 'Why would you think that?'

'Paige is just a close friend of ours,' said Prue.

'I apologise for the mistake,' said Melinda. 'You just appear to have some physical Warren traits, for example, the great cheekbones.'

'We treat Paige as if she were family,' said Phoebe. 'We would love it if she were really our sister.'

'Shouldn't we, er, be coming up with something to say to Leo?' said Piper, trying to change the subject.

'What is Piper hiding?' thought Paige. Ever since the truth spell, Piper had been acting so strangely.

'Hi,' said Leo, appearing at the doorway. 'Sorry, did I just hear you say my name, Piper?'

'Oh, hi, Leo,' said Piper, blushing. 'I was just replying to Paige because er, she just told me that you were downstairs.'

'Oh okay,' said Leo.

Leo saw Melinda in the room and smiled.

'Leo, this is Melinda, she is…' began Piper.

Paige still had the stuff Melinda had just been saying about her in her mind so completed Piper's sentence with '… our cousin. I mean, their cousin.'

Paige was unsure as to why she had accidentally said 'our'. Melinda's words were still ringing in her ears so Paige did not listen to the rest of the conversation.

Paige heard Prue say 'Okay, let's go now'. Paige became aware of the fact that the sisters were leaving the room with Melinda. As the sisters and Melinda left the room, Leo walked in.

'She is the real Melinda, right?' Paige mouthed to Leo.

Leo nodded.

Prue and Phoebe had gone ahead, but Paige managed to catch up with Piper and Melinda.

Melinda was saying, 'He's a treasure, Piper.'

'Why are you telling me?' said Piper.

Melinda did not answer, but when she saw that Paige had joined their side, Melinda added, 'Piper, be careful about the secrets you are choosing to keep hidden.'

Piper looked stunned at this statement. Paige had heard it and was puzzled by it. Did this mean that Melinda knew whatever it was that Piper was hiding? Melinda could tell that there was something between Piper and Leo, Melinda could also tell that Piper was hiding something (and possibly realised what it was). Therefore, could Melinda have been right about Paige being related to the Halliwells?

* * *

In the dining room, Paige sat with the sisters and listened with interest as Melinda told them all about her life and how she met Matthew, and therefore how she died.

When Melinda told them that Matthew would be impossible to vanquish, Paige groaned.

'Nothing magical is ever easy,' said Paige.

'The three of you will have to curse him back into the locket. Paige and I can help to make the potion and to help stop him from getting the last two powers he needs,' said Melinda.

'We do not all need to stay here and make the potion,' said Paige. 'I will go out and start looking for Matthew.'

'It's not safe, Paige,' said Piper.

'It is not safe for you or Phoebe. I am not one of the witches he is after, and nor am I a Halliwell so he will not come after me thinking I may be one of the witches he is after.'

Piper winced at these words. Paige just took the wince as Piper being frightened for her safety.

'I will be fine, Piper,' said Paige.

'At least let me come with you,' said Prue. 'You have no active powers.'

'Your active powers no longer work against Matthew,' said Paige.

'Yes, but if we do find Matthew, I can at least telekinetically throw a bus in his way to slow him down,' said Prue.

Paige shrugged. 'Come with me if you want then.'

Prue looked back at her sisters and Melinda.

'We can start getting the ingredients together for the potion without you,' Piper assured her.

Prue nodded. Prue and Paige left the manor, but Paige almost immediately pushed Prue back in doors.

'Paige!' shouted Prue.

'Andy's car! It's parked across the street!' explained Paige.

Prue went to the living room window to watch Paige approach Andy's car while remaining hidden from view.

Paige knocked on the car window so Andy unwound it.

'Hi Andy,' said Paige. 'Phoebe and I have already told you Prue is not here.'

'I know,' said Andy. 'She does live here though. So there is no harm in waiting for her to come back.'

'Andy, you don't have to wait here,' said Paige. 'Give me your number and I will let you know when Prue comes back.'

Andy jotted down his number on a piece of paper and gave it to Paige. Paige put the piece of paper in her pocket.

'Talk to you later, Andy,' said Paige.

Paige began to walk away, but as she got to the front door of the manor, she noticed that Andy was still doing nothing, sitting in his car, now drinking coffee from a flask.

Paige groaned. 'Piper, I think I am going to need your assistance here!'

'Sure,' said Piper, realising what Paige was referring to.

'Prue, run to the car on my signal,' said Paige.

Prue nodded.

Paige returned to Andy's car with Piper. Andy rolled down his window.

'Hello,' said Andy casually.

'Andy, I will phone you when Prue gets back,' repeated Paige.

'Yeah, you can do that,' said Andy.

'So you do not have to wait here,' said Paige.

'I don't have to, but I am waiting anyway,' said Andy.

'And you are doing this all for your case?' said Paige.

'Yes,' said Andy.

'To me it looks more like you are doing it because you want to see Prue,' said Paige, rolling her eyes.

'I don't mix my personal life with my work life,' said Andy.

'You definitely don't,' said Paige. 'It seems to me that your personal life comes out more than your work life.'

Before Andy could respond, Paige walked off towards the manor, leaving Piper to freeze Andy.

Paige stopped on the pavement just outside the manor. Leo's words were suddenly echoing in her thoughts: '_It's the perfect plan. Morph into the person the inexperienced witch has summoned. Intercept the spell by shimmering in at the right moment. Pretend to be the summoned person for a while so as you earn the inexperienced witch's trust. Then, when their guard is down, attack._'

Paige knew they had not summoned Andy, but what if Matthew had morphed into Andy? That was why it would appear to them as if Andy was still waiting outside the house. That way, they would be playing into Matthew's hands by freezing him. That way, Matthew would have succeeded in getting two out of three of the powers that he wanted.

With this playing through her mind, Paige ran back over to Piper and pushed her to the ground before she could freeze Andy.

'Paige!' shouted Piper as she stood up.

'Andy could be…' started Paige and then she mouthed to Piper 'Matthew in disguise' so as Andy could not hear. Piper understood and eyed Andy suspiciously.

'What about me?' said Andy, irritated.

'How can we tell?' Piper asked Paige.

'Er, ask Andy something that only he could know,' said Paige. 'You have known him since you were kids. So you should be able to think of something.'

'Er, Prue would be better at this than me,' said Piper.

'Yes, but Prue is not here, and you know more than I do,' said Paige.

'What are you two going on about?' shouted Andy. 'Is this a distraction technique? Is Prue trying to leave the manor while you two distract me?'

Andy opened his car door. Paige pushed the car door shut before he could get out.

'Paige!' said Andy.

'Piper, help. Start asking questions,' hissed Paige.

'Er… Andy, out of Prue, Phoebe, and me, who did you meet first?' said Piper.

'Let me out of my car, Paige,' said Andy. 'Piper, I am pretty sure that you and Phoebe were not born when I first met your family, so obviously Prue.'

Piper nodded in Paige's direction to indicate to Paige that his answer was correct.

Piper continued her questions: 'In what year of school did you take Prue to the prom?'

'Piper, why are you asking me all these questions?' said Andy. Then he added, 'That's a trick question anyway. You know that Prue and I missed the final year prom.'

Piper smiled. Andy had also answered the second question correctly.

'Will you stop trying to distract me from doing my job?' said Andy.

Piper looked at Paige. 'Are you satisfied that this is definitely Andy?'

Paige replied, 'You are the one who says he answered those questions correctly. It was nice learning some trivia about you Andy. I better go get the car warmed up.'

Paige began to walk over to Prue's car. She heard Andy start talking to Piper and then heard silence. Piper had successfully frozen Andy.

Paige looked up to the living room window where she could see Prue's face and nodded.

A few minutes later, Prue came running out of the manor into the driver's seat of her car.

'Prue, I wanted to drive,' said Paige.

Prue laughed. 'You know I like to be in charge.'

'Yeah, but I was the one who wanted to go and look for Matthew, and I cannot look for him with someone else leading the way,' said Paige, smiling.

Over the months that she had known Prue, Paige had found that both she and Prue could be quite strong-willed and liked to be in control.

'Besides, you need to let me drive, because when Andy sees this car drive off, I am meant to be the only one in it,' added Paige, smiling matter-of-factly.

Paige knew she had won the argument and found it funny that Prue was at a loss for words.

Prue moved across to the passenger's seat so as Paige could sit in the driver's seat. Prue ducked down in her seat as Andy would probably be unfreezing around now and she did not want to be seen.

Paige pulled out of the drive. At the same time, Piper was walking back into Halliwell manor.

'So I was thinking if we drive around for a while we might spot Matthew,' said Paige.

'So in other words, you don't actually have an actual plan?' laughed Prue.

'Er, you could say that.' Paige laughed.

'Wow, you have been hanging about Phoebe for too long,' said Prue. 'She is rubbing off on you.'

Paige shrugged. 'I think I have always been like this, even before I met you three.'

* * *

Prue and Paige had been driving around for a while when Paige decided to pull over.

'So Prue, about you and Andy…' said Paige.

'Paige! Please, how many times do you have to bring the topic up in one day?' moaned Prue.

'Well, the situation keeps changing,' said Paige. 'Andy was waiting outside the manor pretty much all day just to see you.'

'Yes, about police business,' said Prue.

'That's his excuse too,' said Paige. 'I can read between the lines though.'

'Paige, you are not reading between the lines,' said Prue. 'You are so far off that you are practically writing a whole new book of your own!'

Prue's phone rang so she stopped defending herself to answer it.

'Hello?' said Prue.

Paige could only hear Prue's side of the conversation, so she had to piece together what was going on.

'Okay. Well, we are about a block away from there now,' said Prue. 'Oh, I see, okay.'

Paige tried to think, where were they a block away from? Oh, Quake was only the next block over. Maybe that was where Prue was referring to.

Prue continued to talk into the phone. 'A feather from a spotted owl? Hmm… I will see what I can do. Just be careful, okay? Okay. Bye. We will come back to the manor as soon as we have it. Bye.'

Prue put the phone back in her bag. 'Paige, do you know how to get to the local museum from here?'

'No,' said Paige.

'Then let me drive,' said Prue.

As the two of them switched seats, Paige asked, 'What's happening now?'

'Piper and Phoebe are going to get some herbs from Quake. Piper knows where to find them in the restaurant which is why she said she would do it even though we are close by. And I need to get a spotted owl feather. I am hoping to find one in the museum I used to work in.'

'Hold on a second,' said Paige. 'Piper and Phoebe are going to Quake alone? Are they nuts? They are the two that Matthew needs! Prue, you go to the museum without me. I am going to Quake.'

Paige jumped out of the car and began to run down the street towards Quake. Paige slowed down as she got to the entrance of Quake.

'I may as well wait here for Piper and Phoebe to show up,' Paige thought.

Paige started to think back over the day's events, particularly her meddling in the couple that was no longer Prue and Andy. Both of them still had feelings for each other, but neither of them would openly admit it. Andy was trying to cover his feelings up with work, and Prue was trying to keep out of Andy's sight. Paige felt the crumpled piece of paper in her pocket. What if she… Prue would never know it was her…

Paige looked at the piece of paper, and typed the number into her phone. The phone rang for a few seconds before Andy answered: 'Hello? Detective Trudeau speaking.'

'Hey Andy, it's Paige,' said Paige.

'Oh,' said Andy. 'Are you going to start trying to explain to me why you left the manor using Prue's car even though she was apparently not home? Or are you going to start telling me that Prue and I should be a couple again, again?'

'Look, Andy, I know you are annoyed with me. Prue is too, and she will be again if you tell her that it was me who did what I am about to do, so please don't,' said Paige.

'What do you know, Paige?' said Andy.

'Prue has just driven to the local San Francisco museum,' said Paige. 'You will see her car parked outside. You will find her there.'

'Thank you,' Andy said. 'Can I ask why you are telling me this all of a sudden?'

Paige said 'Because you and Prue need to talk things over' and then hung up.

Paige looked up to see a man she recognised walk straight pass her. It was Matthew. How did he know that he would find Piper there? Prue had said that he was clueless as to who Prue's sisters were. Also, when Paige had last seen Matthew, he had been wearing seventeenth century clothing. Someone had supplied him with modern day clothing.

As Piper and Phoebe had not turned up yet, Paige decided to follow Matthew into Quake.

Matthew approached a waitress. Paige quickly sat down at a table where she would be close enough to hear their conversation.

'Can I help you, sir?' the waitress asked Matthew.

'Possibly,' said Matthew. 'I am looking for my darling Piper. Is she working tonight?'

Paige almost choked at hearing those words.

'Piper is supposed to be working tonight,' said the waitress. 'If you hang around for a little while, her shift is supposed to start soon.'

Matthew nodded and when the waitress was occupied serving customers at a table, Paige saw Matthew sneak into the kitchen.

Paige stood up and also managed to slip into the kitchen unseen by the staff. The kitchen was empty apart from Matthew as the restaurant was not officially open yet, and most of the staff were in a meeting elsewhere in the building.

Matthew's back was turned. Paige tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around.

'I heard you were looking for me, sweetie,' said Paige.

'Sweetie? You heard me talk to the waitress, I assume.' Matthew looked Paige up and down. 'You look slightly different to your picture, Piper.'

'Picture?' said Paige. Whoever had given Matthew modern day clothes and told him to go to Quake had also told him how to find the Halliwells and who they were.

'Never mind. You obviously know who I am. So you won't be surprised if I do this,' said Matthew.

Matthew squinted at some pots and pans and they flew towards Paige. Paige ducked.

'Freeze them to defend yourself, Piper!' shouted Matthew. 'In fact, freeze me to save yourself!'

Paige ducked again as some plates flew in her direction this time. She heard the plates smash against the door behind her.

A few seconds later, the door behind Paige opened to reveal Phoebe. Phoebe saw Paige and Matthew. Phoebe picked up a rolling pin to aid Paige.

Matthew laughed. 'So now I have the pleasure to meet Phoebe too. This will be easier than I thought.'

Matthew blinked and disappeared.

Paige heard Phoebe let out a squeak from behind her, so Paige turned around. Matthew had reappeared by Phoebe and grabbed her. By the looks of it, Phoebe was in the middle of a premonition and Matthew was sharing it.

The premonition finished and Matthew sneered, while Phoebe struggled in an attempt to be released from his grasp.

'Two out of three,' laughed Matthew. 'Piper, I have your sister in my clutches. Freeze me or she will die.'

'Piper?' said Phoebe, confused.

Matthew mistook Phoebe's tone of confusion as terror. 'Your sister is terrified of me, Piper. Come on, freeze me.'

Paige began to hold her hands up like she had seen Piper do many times. Paige knew that it would not work as she was not Piper and did not have the power to freeze. However, Paige hoped that making the action would give her more time to think of how she was going to save Phoebe.

The door (which Matthew now had his back to) opened to reveal Piper on the other side. Piper saw that Matthew was holding Phoebe, so picked up a frying pan from the floor and hit Matthew on the back with it.

Matthew released Phoebe, who ran over to Paige for support. Matthew turned round to see Piper and suddenly recognised her from the photograph he had seen.

'You are Piper!' he said angrily. 'I was fooled by that other witch!'

'You are so rude, Matthew. I have an actual name! People do not go around calling me 'witch' the whole time,' said Paige, trying to take Matthew's attention off of Piper.

It worked, but Paige had not thought things entirely through because Matthew was now looking at Paige again, with vivid fury visible in his eyes.

'So what is your name then, witch? I may as well learn the name of she who fooled me, before I kill her,' he said.

'Oh wow, now you are talking to me as if I am not even in the same room,' said Paige. 'Did they not teach you etiquette in the seventeenth century?'

Piper had now joined Phoebe and Paige.

'Piper get the herbs, quickly,' whispered Phoebe.

On hearing this, Paige realised she needed to distract Matthew for a while longer.

'You want to know my name now, Matthew?' said Paige. 'Meet Paige Matthews, Matthew.'

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I am also writing a new fan fiction called _The Lost Charmed One_ where Piper, Phoebe, and Paige grow up together never knowing about Prue. Please read and review it! Oh, and please review this too.


	15. TheWitchisBack(AndHasslingtheHalliwells)

**A/N:** I hope the first part of this chapter does not turn out too similar to the original episode. Luckily, only the first part as Matthew is defeated in the first part of this chapter (I presume saying he is defeated is not a spoiler. It should be obvious from the original show that he does not win). Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: The Witch is Back (And Hassling the Halliwells)**

'Paige Matthews,' said Matthew. 'Prepare to die.'

'Excuse me, Piper and I are still in the room, you know,' said Phoebe.

Piper had finished putting herbs in her bag and was now standing by Phoebe and Paige again.

'Do you think we are going to let you harm our friend?' said Piper.

'Freeze me then, Piper,' said Matthew.

'Not going to happen, buddy,' said Piper.

Matthew blinked and disappeared.

'Where do you think he went?' asked Phoebe, looking around the kitchen, in case he was going to reappear again.

'I don't know,' said Paige. 'Maybe you should phone the manor. Warn Prue and Melinda that he might be going there.'

'Oh no,' said Phoebe. 'He could be. He did see my premonition after all.'

'What was it?' asked Piper.

The three of them were now leaving the restaurant, running towards Piper's car.

'I saw us with Melinda cursing Matthew back into the locket,' said Phoebe.

'Phone the manor,' said Piper. 'Prue may have gotten back there by now.'

Phoebe rang the manor as the three women jumped into Piper's car. Piper immediately started driving. Phoebe started speaking into the phone but then stopped.

'There was no reply?' asked Paige.

'Nope,' said Phoebe. 'I was leaving a message when the line suddenly went dead.'

'Piper, drive faster,' said Paige.

'Already doing that,' said Piper.

* * *

Prue's car was still gone when they got back to the manor. The three of them entered the house to find Melinda in the living room. They told Melinda about their meeting with Matthew, and then Melinda told them about her confrontation with Matthew.

After half an hour or so, the four of them had finished putting together the potion. All that they were waiting for now was for Prue to show up with the feather.

Paige was panicking. If she had not have told Andy where to find Prue, Prue would probably have been back by now. If Matthew succeeded in getting Piper's power, it would all be Paige's fault. Why did she have to be so meddlesome in Prue and Andy's love life?

Piper mistook Paige's panicking as nerves.

'Don't worry,' said Piper. 'Prue will be back soon.'

Matthew blinked in. 'Not soon enough,' laughed Matthew.

'This is our battle, Matthew,' said Melinda. 'Leave them alone.'

'You are not going to win Matthew!' shouted Paige. Matthew was really starting to annoy her now. Any second he would be saying 'Freeze me, freeze me' again in his annoying voice. 'You are outnumbered!'

'I will have what I came for,' said Matthew, using telekinesis to move Piper towards him. 'Freeze me, witch!'

'That's it!' Paige could not hold her temper any longer. 'Matthew, you know that saying 'Freeze me' the whole time is not working, so can you at least come up with some new lines?'

'She has a point, you know,' said Piper. 'Considering there is no way I am going to do what you just asked me.'

Matthew pulled out a gun and pointed it at Piper.

'Freeze me to save yourself? No?' Matthew pointed the gun at Phoebe instead. 'Freeze me to save your sister?'

'Paige said get some new lines,' said Phoebe slowly, her eyes on the gun that was pointing her way. 'I definitely did not hear her say change your weapon of choice from magic to metal.'

'Matthew, you cannot win,' said Paige in shock at the turn of events. 'Four magical witches against one warlock with a gun…'

'Make that five witches,' said Prue.

Prue had entered the kitchen with the feather held out in her hand.

Matthew let go of Piper who rejoined Phoebe, Paige, and Melinda.

'Give me that feather,' Matthew said to Prue.

Using her telekinesis, Prue knocked the gun from Matthew's hand and made a chair hit him.

Prue passed Melinda the feather and Melinda mixed it with the potion. On Melinda's instruction, Piper froze Matthew, and Melinda began to recite the spell:

'_Outside of time, outside of gain,_

_Know only sorrow, know only pain_.'

Matthew unfroze as he was surrounded by wind and was sucked into the locket.

The five witches stared at the locket lying dormant on the ground.

'Is it all over?' asked Piper.

Phoebe said, 'Is he really gone this time?'

'Yes. For eternity,' said Melinda smiling.

'Well, this has been a productive day,' said Paige. 'Phoebe, what did you tell work that made them let us take the afternoon off?'

'Oh,' said Phoebe, becoming very hesitant and avoiding eye contact with Paige. 'Well, you see… I…'

'Pheebs,' said Paige seriously. 'We were already dangling on a loose thread as it was. What did you say to them?'

'I… Er, well, I signed out for lunch…' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, are you trying to say you just left for lunch and never told them you would not be back for the afternoon?' shouted Paige.

'That's what you did!' said Phoebe.

'Yes, but when I signed out for lunch, I did not know that I was going to be greeted by a warlock landing metres away from me, having jumped out of Prue's twelve floors high office window,' said Paige. 'I was hoping after Prue's phone call that you would have come up with a reason for my absence and for yours too.'

'Paige, I put on the sign out sheet that I had left for a family emergency, so relax,' said Phoebe. 'Besides us missing an afternoon cannot be that bad. They can't fire us.'

'Why Phoebe?' shouted Paige. She was angry now. 'They had already told us that if we missed anymore work without a proper reason, then we would lose our jobs.'

'Please, Paige, calm down. Firstly, I gave them a reason,' said Phoebe. 'We have not lost our jobs. If we had we would have had a phone call from the firm by now. Trust me, I have been through so many jobs that I know when I am about to be fired.'

'You better be right, Phoebe,' said Paige.

Prue, Piper, and Melinda had been silent throughout this heated conversation. Piper decided to change the subject before the same topic erupted again.

'So Melinda, will you be staying for dinner?' said Piper.

'Piper, honey, you know I cannot,' said Melinda.

'You already have plans with someone else up there?' said Phoebe, who was happy about the change of topic.

'No, Phoebe,' said Melinda. 'You know that I have no need to eat.'

'Does not mean you cannot stay with us for a little bit longer,' said Prue.

'Oh Prudence, my daughter's namesake, I wish I could,' said Melinda. 'I was only allowed to come down here to help you defeat Matthew. I am not allowed to stay any longer.'

'So we have to start setting up the spell to send you back?' said Prue.

Melinda nodded.

* * *

Soon Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Melinda were all setting up the items required for the spell.

'Paige.' Paige looked up from setting out the candles to see Melinda looking at her.

'Yes, Melinda?' said Paige.

'Paige, can we talk privately in the hall for a moment?'

Paige nodded hesitantly. As she followed Melinda out of the attic, Paige turned to the sisters wondering whether they would know why Melinda wanted to talk to Paige. Phoebe just smiled and shrugged, Prue just nodded at Paige in encouragement, and Piper looked nervous about something.

'I wish I could read Piper's mind,' thought Paige.

Melinda came to a stop in the hall and looked at Paige.

'Paige, are you sure you are not a descendant of the Warrens?' said Melinda.

'Well, I cannot be positive, as I was adopted,' said Paige. 'I think I would have realised by now though if I were related to the Halliwells. So yeah, I am sure.'

Melinda continued to look at Paige.

'It's not that I am not flattered,' continued Paige. 'Why do you keep insisting that I could be, Melinda?'

'I have known you but half a day yet I have observed many of the Warren family traits in you,' said Melinda. 'Great cheekbones, the short temper, the strong will…'

Paige did not know what to say.

'The only trait which I have not observed in you today is the powers,' said Melinda.

'I am no more than an ordinary witch,' said Paige. 'I can cast spells but I have no active powers like Prue and Piper. I do not even have a passive one like Phoebe with her premonitions.'

'Paige, you are more talented than you know,' said Melinda. 'Keep hassling the right Halliwell sister and you will get what you want.'

Paige was about to ask what Melinda had meant when Leo orbed into the hallway.

'Dad, I told you to stop doing that,' said Paige through gritted teeth. 'Any one of the sisters could have seen you.'

'Paige, I told you, I can sense where they are,' said Leo. He turned to Melinda. 'Hi Melinda. I wanted to speak to you properly before you left.'

'Of course,' smiled Melinda.

Paige followed Leo and Melinda down the stairs and into the living room where they sat and discussed Melinda's history and then how Leo was the Halliwell's white lighter.

'It must be so strange for you, Leo,' said Melinda. 'Having Paige involved with your work like this.'

'It is,' said Leo. 'I still cannot believe that Paige is all grown up now, but she has been a real help to me.'

'Leo, just remember that Piper is special to Paige too.'

Leo blushed. Paige cringed. Melinda was obviously referring to the blossoming relationship between Leo and Piper, but must have also noticed that Paige had been uncomfortable with the relationship between Leo and her close friend.

'Well, I like to see Shakespeare as a writer that was ahead of his own times,' said Leo.

Paige looked at Leo awkwardly and then noticed Piper walk into the room. Leo had sensed Piper approaching and changed the subject. Leo's white lighter abilities were amazingly accurate.

'Melinda, Paige,' said Piper. 'Do you want to go upstairs?'

'I am so sorry, Piper,' said Melinda. 'Leo turned up and we started having a wonderful discussion about Shakespeare.'

'Melinda lies fast,' thought Paige. She was impressed. How come the Halliwell sisters could not think up cover stories as fast as their ancestor could?

'Leo, why are you here?' asked Piper.

'He said something about working on the plumbing downstairs,' said Paige.

'Yes, sorry about that, I was on my way to do it, but then I got talking to your cousin,' said Leo.

'That's okay, Leo. Now is not a good time though,' said Piper. 'We're getting our cousin Melinda ready to go away. Can you come back later? Like, tomorrow?'

'Sure. No problem,' said Leo.

Paige and Melinda had begun to walk up the stairs. Paige overheard Piper say to Leo 'Would you like to go out sometime? With me, that is.'

'I'd love to. Give me a call,' Paige heard Leo reply.

Melinda squeezed Paige's hand. 'Don't get stressed, Paige. Leo and Piper are destined to be together. You feel weird considering who Leo is to you, but Leo deserves to find someone, just like you deserve to be with Wilson.'

'How do you know about Wilson?' asked Paige surprised.

'Paige, I have the power of premonition, remember?' smiled Melinda.

Piper had now caught up with them as they reached the attic.

'What was taking you so long?' Phoebe asked Paige and Melinda.

'We talked, and then Leo turned up,' said Paige.

'Is he gone?' asked Prue.

Paige nodded. 'Piper got rid of him for us.'

'Then I guess it's time,' said Prue, looking up at Melinda.

Piper joined Prue and Phoebe at the table. Paige stood in the corner of the room.

'Paige, join us at the table,' said Prue. 'You may not be a blood relation, but you are still like family to us.'

Once again, Paige noticed Piper wince. Paige made a mental note to herself to look in the Book of Shadows later that night to see if there was a mind-reading spell.

As the sisters went through the habits of refusing to say goodbye to someone they knew they would be unlikely to see again, Paige thought about what Melinda had said to her.

As Prue said the spell which would send Melinda away, Paige began to concentrate on her surroundings again. Paige watched as Melinda Warren disappeared.

'I'm going to miss her,' said Phoebe.

'Me too,' said Piper.

'We can always bring her back,' said Prue.

'The Elders would never let you,' thought Paige bitterly. She was going to miss Melinda as much as the Halliwells would.

'This isn't over yet,' said Prue.

'What do you mean?' asked Phoebe.

'Well, how did Matthew know to find you at Quake? How did he know what you and Piper looked like?' Prue asked Phoebe.

'Someone was pulling Matthews strings,' said Paige.

Prue nodded. 'And that someone is still out there.'

'Book of Shadows?' said Piper.

Prue smiled. 'You took the words right out of my mouth, Piper.'

'Let's at least clear the candles away first,' said Phoebe.

'Good point,' laughed Paige. 'Even though I never thought I would see the day when Phoebe Halliwell would suggest cleaning before spell casting!'

'It's only because the attic is currently so cramped with four grown women in here, all your possessions, and all the items we needed to send Melinda back,' said Phoebe, trying to defend her reputation.

'I will go and start making us some dinner while you three clear up,' said Piper, leaving the attic.

'I guess we will wait until after dinner to check the Book of Shadows, then,' Prue said, rolling her eyes. 'Let's just hope the bad guy does not attack us during dessert!'

'They will definitely have four ticked off witches on their hands if they dare interrupt dessert,' laughed Phoebe.

Paige helped Prue and Phoebe clear up the attic. While Paige did so, Melinda's words echoed in her mind. Not the ones about Paige appearing to be a Warren, or the ones about Leo and Piper's relationship. Melinda had given Paige much advice over that half a day, but the one that stood out most was: '_Keep hassling the right Halliwell sister and you will get what you want_.'

Which Halliwell sister had Melinda meant? And what was it that Melinda thought Paige was after? Paige had been hassling Prue all day about Andy. Was that it? Did Melinda think that Prue and Andy were destined to be together and that Paige's hassling would help? Then again, Paige had also been hassling Phoebe about their job, but that had not been until after Melinda had given Paige the advice. Or had it been before? So much had happened in half a day that the order of events had become jumbled in Paige's mind. Or was it Piper that Melinda had suggested Paige hassle? Piper had been acting so strange ever since the truth spell. She had managed to avert Paige's questions every time Paige brought the topic up. Surely, Melinda had been referring to Piper then.

Paige sighed as she helped Prue and Phoebe move the small table into the corner of the attic. Melinda had told Paige to keep hassling Piper until Piper snapped and told her what her secret was. Normally, Paige would not use such a method, but Melinda had suggested it, not just suggested it, Melinda had said it would work. Therefore, Paige decided that instead of trying a spell she would just continue to pester – no, not pester – she would continue to hassle the Halliwell sister known as Piper…

'What are you thinking about, Paige?' said Phoebe, as they headed for the kitchen.

'Nothing,' lied Paige.

* * *

After an hour, the sisters and Paige were sitting down to a fabulously cooked meal. As Piper was about to take her first mouthful, the phone rang.

Prue grabbed the phone.

'If that is Martin, can you please remind him that I am off work tonight?' said Piper. 'If he refuses to listen to you, hand me the phone so I can cough at it to remind him how contagious I am.'

Prue and Paige did not understand this, but apparently Phoebe did because she laughed.

'Oh just let me answer the phone now, Prue, so I can get it over with,' said Piper, taking the phone from Prue.

'That was the excuse Piper used earlier when she had to go into Quake to get the herbs,' explained Phoebe.

'Hello?' said Piper, answering the phone. Then after a pause, 'Oh no. This is her sister.'

Prue and Phoebe exchanged looks, wondering which of the two of them the phone call could be for.

'Do you really think we sound alike?' said Piper.

Prue made a face at Phoebe that said 'It must be for you then.' Phoebe's expression in response to Prue, basically said, 'No, you are the one who sounds like Piper. It's for you.'

'Yes, she is here. I can hand you over to her,' said Piper. 'Yes, Miss Matthews does live here too.'

Paige suddenly glared at Phoebe. Phoebe was looking down at her dinner plate. Phoebe, like Paige, had now realised that this was a phone call from their work.

'Hang on a second, and I will get one of them for you,' said Piper. She covered the receiver with her hand, and stretched the phone out for either Phoebe or Paige to take.

Phoebe's eyes darted from the phone back to her dinner plate.

'Phoebe,' hissed Paige. 'Take the phone. You are the one who got us into this mess! You are also the one who said that we are only going to be fired if we get a phone call! Well, Phoebe, it is seven o'clock, and it looks like the boss worked late just to make that phone call!'

Phoebe did not reply. She just continued looking at her food.

'I am not taking the phone,' said Paige.

'Can someone just take the phone please?' said Piper.

'Pheebs, you should take it, not Paige,' said Prue.

'Stay out of this, Prue,' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe!' shouted Prue.

'You know what, I do not need to be psychic to realise that those two are about to have an argument,' Paige said to Piper. 'Just give me the phone.'

Piper handed Paige the phone. Prue and Phoebe did not even notice this take place as they were already shouting at one another.

'Hello?' Paige said into the phone.

'Miss Ma…' The rest of the sentence was lost under Prue and Phoebe's voices.

'Hang on, let me go somewhere quieter,' said Paige.

Paige left the kitchen and entered the living room.

'Okay, I am somewhere quieter now. You can continue,' said Paige.

'Miss Matthews, this is Mr. Andrews,' said Mr. Andrews. It was her soon to be ex-boss talking on the phone.

'Mr. Andrews, I can explain why I signed out for lunch but then did not come back for the afternoon,' said Paige. She knew she could not explain but it felt like the right thing to say.

'Miss Matthews, I do not want anything explained to me over the phone,' said Mr. Andrews. 'I am not even allowed to fire you over the phone.'

Paige did not answer this. 'Didn't Phoebe say she had been fired via phone call many times?' was a thought that popped into Paige's head.

Mr. Andrews continued, 'Miss Matthews, I would like to see you and Miss Halliwell in my office next Thursday, five o'clock sharp. I will then give you and Miss Halliwell time to explain your reasons before making my final decision about your job contracts.'

'Next Thursday? Today is Thursday. Do you want us to come in for work tomorrow and the other days next week?' asked Paige.

'No,' said Mr. Andrews. 'Until our meeting, you and Miss Halliwell are on unpaid suspension. On Thursday, we will discuss everything, and then I will decide whether or not you will be continuing at our firm. Is this understood?'

'Yes,' said Paige.

'Would you be able to relay this message to Miss Halliwell?' asked Mr. Andrews.

Paige walked into the hallway and peered into the kitchen. Prue and Phoebe were still at it. Piper had joined in with it in a failing attempt to mediate the situation.

'If I can get a word in edgeways,' Paige said into the phone.

'Excuse me?' said Mr. Andrews.

'I mean, yes, of course. I will tell Phoebe straight away,' said Paige. 'Good night, Mr. Andrews.'

'Good night, Miss Matthews. See you next Thursday, five o'clock sharp,' said Mr. Andrews. He hung up.

Paige entered the kitchen and dropped the phone on the table.

The three Halliwell sisters went silent and looked up at Paige.

'What did he say?' asked Phoebe. 'Was he angry?'

'We are screwed,' said Paige. Then she explained everything that had been said in the phone call.

'Well, look on the bright side, we get a week's holiday, and it is not even one hundred percent certain that we will be fired. Our fictional excuse – whatever that is going to be – might just end up saving our jobs,' said Phoebe.

Piper laughed. 'Pheebs, you are always the optimist.'

* * *

**A/N:** The next chapter will involve Phoebe and Paige's meeting with their boss, plus the start of the _Wicca Envy_ storyline.


	16. Wicca Envy (And Work Ethics)

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews! Just a note for this chapter, when I am talking about dates, # is supposed to be the number of that day of the month. I would rather not end up saying an inaccurate date, and as I cannot be bothered to try and work it out, this is my way of clarifying that # is the date, and - is the month. Please read and review.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Wicca Envy (And Work Ethics)**

It was six o'clock on Thursday when Paige's car pulled onto the drive. Prue's car pulled up right behind Paige. Paige and Phoebe got out the car silently. Prue got out of her own car with bags of shopping. Phoebe saw Prue and frowned.

'Prue! You said you would wait and go shopping with me! I said I was going to help you get loads of new outfits,' moaned Phoebe.

'Sorry, Pheebs,' said Prue. 'I got out of work around four today, and I knew you would be at your meeting, so I decided to go by myself.'

Phoebe and Paige took a couple of the bags from Prue to help her carry them up the steps to the front door.

'So how did the meeting go?' asked Prue. 'You two left at nine in the morning for a five o'clock meeting.'

'We wanted to spend the day together to discuss what we were going to say,' said Phoebe.

'And how did it go?' asked Prue.

Paige could tell that Prue had already noticed Paige's stone cold silence.

'I guess not so well,' said Prue. 'I am so sorry, Paige.'

'You cannot be sorry for me too?' asked Phoebe.

'Phoebe, you are the reason Paige lost the job,' said Prue.

'You cannot say that Prue!' said Phoebe.

Paige could tell that another fight was about to start. 'Prue. Phoebe. I am not in the mood to listen to one of your fights, okay? So please, don't start one.'

Prue and Phoebe went silent.

Paige's mind kept running through the events of the meeting:

Phoebe and Paige had turned up at the office at five to five. They had had to sit outside Mr. Andrews' office for ten whole minutes before they were called in. It had felt like they were waiting to be called into the head master's office at school. Phoebe and Paige had both had a lot of experience of that during their high school years.

On sitting down opposite their boss, Mr. Andrews asked Phoebe and Paige to sign some forms, and then he began.

'Miss Matthews and Miss Halliwell, I have called you here today to discuss your many unexplained absences from work. I hate to make this sound like school, but it is just not acceptable. First you were both absent on Monday the # of -. Please can you confirm that this is correct?'

'Yes, Mr. Andrews,' said both Phoebe and Paige simultaneously.

'Due to your unexpected absence, on such an important day for the firm, the firm was forced to postpone two meetings because the required paperwork was not completed on time by the secretarial staff. Do you agree that this did occur? Would you also like to confirm that the two of you are said secretarial staff?'

'Yes, Mr. Andrews,' said both Phoebe and Paige in chorus.

'Would you like to provide me with a reason for your absence on Monday the # of -?'

Phoebe and Paige exchanged looks. Phoebe and Paige had discussed earlier that day what their excuse for each absence would be and this first absence was left up to Paige to explain.

'Truthfully, Miss Halliwell and I overslept as we had been doing important research over that weekend,' said Paige. Phoebe and Paige had decided that they may as well tell the truth for that absence considering it was the only one which was not really magically connected.

'Would you like to go into detail on this 'important research' that you did over the weekend?' said Mr. Andrews.

'No,' thought Paige. Now she had to lie to him. Paige took a deep breath and said, 'Recently Miss Halliwell has become quite interested in the topic of social work. As you know we type up social work reports on a daily basis. Therefore, I helped Miss Halliwell spend the weekend researching possible routes into the profession.'

'Hmm…' said Mr. Andrews, noting this down. He did not look convinced. 'Your reasons when you came in the following day were that you had been ill. Why would that have changed?'

Neither Phoebe nor Paige answered this question. They were hoping it was rhetorical. Mr. Andrews continued.

'Now, as to your absences the following week after that Monday: Wednesday the # of -. Once again, both members of the secretarial staff were absent without prior notice given. Wednesday the # of - was the day of the annual whole staff meeting. Both of you were expected to be at the annual meeting as it is compulsory for all staff to attend. Plus, Miss Halliwell, you had signed up to take the minutes for the meeting.'

'I did? Oh, yes, I did,' said Phoebe. She had obviously forgotten.

'Yes, you did, Miss Halliwell. Your absence, Miss Halliwell, resulted in time being wasted before the meeting started because you had taken the agenda pack home with you.'

'Oh, sorry about that,' said Phoebe.

'And you still have not returned it, Miss Halliwell,' continued Mr. Andrews. Phoebe looked embarrassed. 'Miss Matthews, this is your third year working here-'

'Fourth,' interjected Paige.

Mr. Andrews peered closer at the documents in front of him. 'Oh, I do apologise, your fourth year working here. That does not change my point one bit, Miss Matthews. In fact it strengthens my point. You have been working here for four years so you should know that the annual staff meeting is obligatory and open to no excuses.'

Paige coughed to clear her throat, but said nothing.

'Shall I hear your explanation for this one?' asked Mr. Andrews.

It was Phoebe's turn to give an explanation, but Phoebe did not give their planned explanation as her thoughts were going along the same track as Paige's and Mr. Andrews'.

'Did we already give the reason as being that we were ill?' asked Phoebe hesitantly.

Mr. Andrews nodded. 'So you confirm that the two of you were ill on Wednesday the # of -? That is what you wrote down on the staff absence form when you came in on the following day.'

Phoebe and Paige nodded.

'On Friday the # of -, two days after your second full day absence, do you confirm that the firm issued you with a warning? Would you like to confirm to me what that warning was?'

Phoebe said, 'Yes, we can confirm you gave us a warning.'

Paige added, 'The warning was that if we have another unacceptable absence without giving any prior notice, we could lose our positions at the firm.'

Mr. Andrews noted some more things down on the documents in front of him.

'Last Thursday, on the # of -, the two of you came into work on time and completed a full morning of work. Miss Matthews, would you like to confirm what time you signed out?'

'I signed out at one o'clock. At my designated lunch hour,' said Paige.

'And would you like to confirm when your designated lunch hour ends?'

'Two o'clock,' said Paige. She hated how Mr. Andrews was dragging the whole thing out. She wanted him to get to the point, especially considering she knew where this was going.

'And did you sign back in at or before two o'clock? Did you sign back in at all?'

'No,' said Paige bluntly.

'Thank you, I will come back to that point in a minute,' said Mr. Andrews. He turned to Phoebe. 'Miss Halliwell, could you also confirm to me your lunch hour?'

Phoebe was not as patient as Paige when it came to talking to authority figures, so she answered all the questions she knew were coming her way at once.

'My lunch hour is also between one and two o'clock. I signed out at quarter to two. And I did not sign back in at all either because I did not return to work that afternoon,' said Phoebe.

'Thank you, Miss Halliwell,' said Mr. Andrews. 'And what was the reason for leaving that you put on your sign out form?'

'Family emergency,' said Phoebe.

'And Miss Matthews, what was the reason that you put on your sign out form?'

'I put that I was going out to buy lunch,' said Paige reluctantly.

'Yeah, but the family emergency happened while Paige was out to lunch, so she did not know at the time of leaving that she would not be coming back!' said Phoebe, trying to defend Paige.

'Miss Halliwell, even if that were true, you and Miss Matthews are not family,' said Mr. Andrews. 'Miss Matthews had no reason not to return.'

'Paige is so close to my family that we consider her family,' continued Phoebe. 'So it was just as important that she took the afternoon off too!'

'Could you go into detail as to what this family emergency was?' asked Mr. Andrews as he wrote more down.

This is one of the main lies that Phoebe and Paige had rehearsed that day.

'While Paige was on her lunch break, she found out that my Uncle Matthew was in town,' began Phoebe. 'Uncle Matthew is not a very nice man, and he wanted to find my sisters and I because he was angry at one of our anc – I mean – at one of our aunts for a whole big issue that I don't want to have to get into.'

'Well, I saw Phoebe's Uncle Matthew outside Phoebe's sister's office,' continued Paige. 'Phoebe's sister had also found out about Uncle Matthew being in town, so when she saw me, she decided that we would get Phoebe to come home, and stay at home until we got in contact with the aunt who he originally made sure was burnt at the st – I mean – he tried to burn her house down.'

'So you see, we had to hide away in the house while waiting for our aunt to come,' said Phoebe.

'And why could you not phone work during the day to let us know where you had gone?' asked Mr. Andrews.

'We were a little preoccupied with the family emergency and Phoebe and her sisters' safety,' said Paige.

'Could you give me some contact details for this aunt of yours?' asked Mr. Andrews. 'And if you can give me a last name for your Uncle Matthew, I can probably find him in the files to check what you have said is true.'

Phoebe and Paige exchanged worried looks. They had not thought their excuse through well enough.

'Well, my aunt Melinda is not easy to contact,' said Phoebe.

'You managed to get a hold of her quite fast last week,' said Mr. Andrews.

'What Phoebe meant was, that her aunt has only just this week gone somewhere with little phone reception,' said Paige. 'She has gone to do some research in the, er…'

'Timbuktu?' said Phoebe.

'Yeah, she has gone to study volcanoes…' said Paige, improvising on the spot. Why did Phoebe have to say Timbuktu? 'Volcanoes block out phone reception, quite badly.'

'Okay,' said Mr. Andrews, obviously unconvinced as there were no volcanoes in Timbuktu (Paige was not very good at her geography). 'Could I please have your uncle's full name, Miss Halliwell?'

'My uncle's full name?' echoed Phoebe.

Paige knew as well as Phoebe did that they could not say 'Matthew Tate' considering they could get a random Matthew Tate in trouble as their own Matthew Tate would not be on the records as he was a seventeenth century warlock.

'You know what, I cannot remember,' said Phoebe.

'You cannot remember your uncle's full name?' said Mr. Andrews, definitely not persuaded one bit by their story.

For the next five minutes, Phoebe and Paige sat in silence while Mr. Andrews wrote things down on the documents in front of him.

Mr. Andrews put his pen down and looked at Phoebe and Paige.

'Miss Matthews, the main reason that we hired Miss Halliwell was because you told us great things about her work ethics. We had many other possible candidates up for that position. However we took your word to hire her because you have been here for four years and have been a fine member of the team.'

'Mr. Andrews, you can fire me, but don't fire Paige,' said Phoebe. 'It is not her fault.'

'Miss Halliwell, please can you let me finish?'

Phoebe went silent.

'I regret to inform you Miss Matthews that I am letting you go. After four years here, you have changed drastically in just a few months. Obviously, you have something going on in your life at the moment that you need to sort out and I hope that by dismissing you, you will have a chance to sort it out. When you are ready to return to work, although I would advise you not to apply back here, I would be willing to write you a good reference for your next employer.'

Paige sighed and nodded. 'Thank you. It has been a pleasure working here for the last four years.' She did not feel like arguing for her position. She had known this was coming all week.

Mr. Andrews turned to Phoebe. 'Miss Halliwell, you have not been working here long. You appear to be getting interested in the work that you have been given, but you are too much of a risk to keep on. Miss Halliwell, I am afraid I am going to have to let you go too.'

Phoebe nodded. She did not say anything though.

'Goodbye, Miss Halliwell and Miss Matthews. Miss Matthews, I hope to be in contact with you again soon when you are ready to use me as a reference for your next venture.'

Phoebe and Paige had left.

* * *

Phoebe and Paige now stood at the front door of the manor with Prue. They were holding a portion of her shopping bags.

'So did you...?' asked Prue.

'Yeah, we got canned,' said Phoebe blatantly.

Paige got her key out, as she started to unlock the front door.

'I don't think that your decision to say 'Timbuktu' helped us in anyway,' said Paige.

'I panicked!' said Phoebe. 'It was the first thing that came into my head.'

Paige laughed bitterly. She was not in a good mood after losing her job. 'Great, remind me never to ask you to write a spell in the spur of the moment. You might panic, unable to think of anything else to rhyme with 'oo' and end up sending me to Timbuktu.'

As the front door opened, Prue, Phoebe, and Paige entered the foyer, just to hear laughter approaching them. Prue, Phoebe, and Paige dropped the shopping bags on the floor as Leo and Piper came running into the foyer area.

On spotting Prue, Phoebe, and Paige, Piper froze Leo and as she was still running she tripped over Leo's frozen leg, sliding across the foyer floor. She came to a stop by Prue, Phoebe, and Paige's feet.

Prue helped Piper up.

'I am so embarrassed,' said Piper.

'Someone's been having their way with the handyman,' said Phoebe.

'How can you still make jokes after a day like today?' said Paige.

Paige found herself running straight to the attic. She knew that Melinda had told her not to get mad about seeing Leo and Piper together, but Paige still did not like the sight of such a thing. Also, Paige was already in a sour mood from being fired so it was okay for her to get annoyed at anything she wanted to be annoyed at.

* * *

Out of habit, Paige woke up the next morning at seven o'clock. When she remembered she did not have a workplace to go to, she tried to go back to sleep. She had told Leo earlier that week about her work meeting and he had told her that he would talk to her after her meeting to find out how it had gone on. Yet, so far he had not orbed into the attic to talk to her, which meant – Paige shivered – which meant he was still with Piper. He had probably staid the night with Piper.

At around eight o'clock, there was a knock on the attic door. Paige jumped up hoping it was Leo. She really wanted to speak to him. If it was Leo, though, wouldn't he just orb in rather than knock?

Paige opened the door to reveal Phoebe.

'Morning Phoebe,' said Paige.

'If you ran an Employment Agency, wouldn't you want me?' asked Phoebe, wearing a suit that Paige had seen Prue wear to work in the past.

'I don't know. Does the employment agency specialise in hiring people who steal from their sister's wardrobe?' asked Paige. 'Besides, how can you already be thinking about applying for jobs? You only got fired yesterday.'

'I am just recycling Prue's old wardrobe,' said Phoebe. 'And trust me, Paige, when you have had as many jobs as I have, you bounce back faster than if you were dating a guy on the rebound.'

'Whatever,' said Paige.

'Paige, you should come to the employment agency with me,' said Phoebe. 'I am sure we can find a suit for you in Prue's wardrobe too.'

'I am sure I can find a suit of my own, Phoebe, but I am not going,' said Paige.

'Paige, you cannot give up like this!' said Phoebe.

They heard a bedroom door open and close. Then they heard someone rush downstairs.

'Should we see who that is?' said Paige, changing the subject.

'It can't be Prue. She was already in the kitchen when I sneaked into her wardrobe this morning,' said Phoebe.

As Phoebe and Paige made their way down the attic steps, Paige heard the sound of orbs behind her, from within the attic.

'Actually Phoebe, you can go and have a look, I need to do something in my room!' said Paige. She ran back into the attic and shut the door behind her.

'Morning, Paige,' said Leo.

'You are getting really careless with your orbing,' said Paige. 'Phoebe was literally just outside the attic door when you orbed in!'

Paige had decided she was going to stop calling Leo 'Dad' considering he was now officially dating one of her close friends. Paige did not call him Leo, though. She just left out any form of address when talking to him.

'She was?' asked Leo. 'I thought she would be downstairs.'

'Since when was I the responsible one out of us two?' said Paige.

Leo sat down on the attic sofa and hinted for Paige to sit next to him. He had gone serious now.

'How did the work meeting go?' he asked.

'I think you can tell by my mood,' said Paige.

'I am so sorry, Paige,' said Leo. 'I wish I could help you, but that's one problem with trying to keep the magical and non-magical worlds apart when you find yourself part of both.

Paige sighed. 'I should have just gotten a job in the magical world then. The only reason I didn't was because those wages don't get taxed, and I did not want the non-magical world to sue me for tax fraud.'

'As I said, the magical and non-magical worlds do not mix very well,' said Leo. 'You are not going through that problem alone though. The sisters are going through it too, even if they do not realise that you are.'

Paige rolled her eyes. When was she going to tell Leo that the sisters knew about her? Was this a good time?

Paige opened her mouth to say something, but Leo interrupted her.

'I better go downstairs,' said Leo. 'I want to say bye to Piper before she leaves for work.'

Leo left the attic, this time by using the door, leaving Paige sitting on the sofa by herself.

As the attic window faced the front of the house, Paige could hear that a car had just driven off. Considering Leo knew that Piper was only about to leave the house, the car must have been Prue's car – Prue must have just left for work.

Paige stood up and began looking around the attic. She thought she may as well make her day more productive by looking through the Book of Shadows. Paige knew she still wanted to find a spell which would help her find out what Piper was hiding. She did not care that there would be personal gain consequences.

One of the possibilities going through Paige's head had been casting her very own truth spell, or attempting to find a mind-reading spell. Either way, Paige still had to locate the Book of Shadows first, in order to know the right words to say.

First Paige looked in the usual cabinet that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe normally kept it in. Even though they all knew that Paige knew about their secret now, it had become a habit to store the Book of Shadows back into the cabinet.

The Book of Shadows was not there. Paige continued to look around the different drawers of the numerous cabinets and desks in the attic. The Book was nowhere to be seen.

Paige decided she would phone Prue to find out where the Book might be. Where was the phone, though? Paige left the attic and soon found the portable phone lying on the kitchen table. Paige was about to pick it up when Leo orbed into the kitchen.

'Don't moan,' said Leo before Paige could moan at him again. 'You know as well as I do that all the sisters are out so there was nothing wrong with me orbing in like this.'

'Why are you here?' asked Paige. She really wanted to phone Prue but she could not do it while Leo was talking to her.

'I do not like to see you upset,' said Leo. 'You should be more like Phoebe and get back out there, and start applying for jobs.'

'You make it sound like I have just been dumped!' said Paige irritated.

'Paige Lillian Wyatt,' said Leo sternly. He only ever used her full name when he was being extremely serious and concerned, or when he was angry (which rarely occurred). 'Listen to me, you need to stop moping about. I don't like to see you like this. It is not you. The Paige Wyatt that I know would not give up after losing her job.'

'How would you know? That was the first job I ever had, hence the first job I ever lost,' said Paige.

'Listen, Paige, I will stay with you all day today looking through job adverts in the newspapers and stay with you while you phone them up to enquire about positions,' said Leo. 'You are going to get right back into the job market right this minute.'

Paige sighed. 'Fine.'

* * *

Paige sat down at the kitchen table while Leo brought in loads of newspapers which Phoebe must have been looking through earlier that morning as the newspapers were all open to the employment pages and many job adverts had already been circled.

Leo and Paige spent a few hours going through the newspapers, jotting down names and phone numbers.

'I guess I should start phoning some of these people now,' said Paige.

Leo nodded. 'You can do this, Paige. You have great communication skills. You are not shy. Why are you finding this so tough?'

'I don't know,' said Paige. 'I just have so much on my plate at the moment that I don't know if I should be getting another job or just keeping look out for the sisters concerning magical stuff.'

'Well, are the sisters making you pay rent here?' asked Leo.

'No,' said Paige. 'I offered to, but Prue, as well as Piper and Phoebe, refused to let me. However, I do make sure to pay for the groceries whenever I can do that without them catching me at it.'

Leo laughed at this. The Halliwell's had been very welcoming to Paige.

'I think until I have figured out my dream job, I do not need to do paid work for a while,' said Paige.

Leo shuffled the newspapers into one messy pile and threw them in the bin along with the piece of paper that Paige had been noting names and numbers on.

'As long as you spend your time either helping the sisters or figuring out your dream job, that is fine with me,' said Leo. 'What I do not like to see though is you moping around the manor doing nothing.'

Paige nodded.

'So what do you want to do now?' said Leo. 'The sisters are all out. None of my other charges require me at the moment. What do you want to do?'

Paige smiled. 'Want to watch a film?' She was in a slightly better mood now and did not mind putting off finding the Book of Shadows as she had been procrastinating on finding a spell to work out Piper's secret for a few weeks now anyway.

'Sure,' said Leo.

Paige went in search of some videos. She came back a few minutes later to find Leo standing up in the kitchen.

Leo had his head tilted very slightly, and his eyes were looking up and to the left. After living with Leo for twenty years, Paige would recognise that look anywhere. Leo had obviously just heard the sound he used to describe to Paige as similar to bells ringing. This sound signified the Elders were calling Leo to go up there.

Paige dropped the videos on the kitchen table, realising that they were not going to be able to watch a film after all. 'What do _they_ want now?'

'I don't know,' said Leo, looking at Paige. 'I will go and find out. I don't know when I will be back. Rain check on watching the film, yeah?'

Leo orbed out.

Paige sighed. She did not know when she would next have a chance to speak to Leo, as between spending time with Piper and talking to the Elders or his charges, Leo had not had much time to talk with Paige recently. The morning they had just spent looking for jobs had been a rare chance for Paige to spend time with Leo.

Paige went into one of the kitchen cupboards, found the jar of lollies – which she also made sure to top up when she went grocery shopping – and took out a lolly for herself.

Paige turned back to the kitchen table, picked up the phone, and started to dial Prue's work number.

'Hello. Prue Halliwell speaking.'

'Hi Prue,' said Paige as she began to suck on the lollypop. 'It's Paige.'

'Is there something wrong at the manor?' said Prue sounding worried.

'No, everything is fine. I was phoning to ask if you knew where the Book of Shadows was,' said Paige.

'Oh, Paige, I am so sorry. I was looking through it last night, to see if I could figure out who it could be that is after us,' said Prue. 'I must have left it in my room. Why do you need it?'

Paige began walking with the phone to her ear out of the kitchen and up the stairs to Prue's bedroom. 'No reason. I just wanted to do some research.'

'Okay,' said Prue. 'You would never guess what Phoebe did today!'

'I guess you want to tell me though,' said Paige. 'I am in your room now. I cannot see it on your desk or on your bed.'

'Phoebe came to my office and my boss Rex was there, and he basically asked her out, and she said _yes_,' said Prue.

'Oh, is that a bad thing?' said Paige, not really paying too much attention to Prue's words. She had started shifting through some papers on top of Prue's desk in case the Book was hidden beneath them.

'Of course it is! How would you feel if you had a sister and they started dating your boss? Oh, sorry, bad choice of words there. Okay, what if you had a sister and they started dating your dad – Actually, no, that would be gross because your dad would be their dad too. Okay, let me put it like this, what if you had a close friend and they started dating your foster dad?'

Paige rolled her eyes, smiling, happy that the phone was only audible and not visual too, so Prue could not see Paige's expression. How close had Prue come to actually voicing something that Paige had been experiencing for the last month or so.

'I might be able to connect with that,' said Paige, in fact knowing that she actually knew exactly how Prue felt in regards to the analogy she had used. 'Not really the best work ethics to have your boss dating your sister. You cannot really blame Pheebs though. Sounds like he came onto her, not the other way around.'

'Yes, but she said _yes_! She did not have to say yes!' said Prue.

'Prue, calm down. Don't blame it all on Pheebs, okay?' said Paige. 'I cannot find the Book on your desk. Where is it?'

'Oh, the Book is hidden somewhere in my room. My drawers or under my bed or under my pillows. I cannot remember exactly where. You will find it. I did not want to leave it in plain sight in case Leo had to come in to do some work in my room,' said Prue.

Paige looked at Prue's room. She had a desk drawer, drawers in her wardrobe, drawers in her dressing table. Paige decided to start with the dressing table drawers.

'I am going to the police station to see Andy at one, today,' said Prue.

'Really? Why?' said Paige. She stopped searching through the dressing table drawers to listen to this. 'Andy stopped by at your work to see you?'

'Yes and no,' said Prue. 'He was here for work reasons.'

'Work? Knowing Andy, when he says he is somewhere due to a case, it usually means he is somewhere due to personal reasons, especially when it concerns you,' said Paige laughing.

'It was definitely work reasons,' said Prue. 'A tiara was stolen from Bucklands.'

Paige almost dropped the phone when she heard Prue say this. 'You mean a tiara was stolen, yet the first thing you decide to discuss with me over the phone is Phoebe's dating antics?'

'Paige, I think Andy suspects that I stole it,' said Prue.

'Prue, don't worry. I think Andy is just using this all as an excuse to see you more,' said Paige. 'I am pretty sure he knows as well as we all do that you would never steal it. Except for your boss, you practically own Bucklands with the amount of effort you put into your work.'

'Have you found the Book of Shadows yet?' asked Prue. 'It's almost one o'clock, and I really need to be getting to the station now but I am still sitting in my office on the phone to you.'

Paige took that as a hint to say, 'No, but I should be able to find it by myself now. Good luck talking to Andy. Bye.' She hung up.

Paige had now made her way over to the drawer in Prue's desk. Paige opened the drawer. In it was not the Book of Shadows. However, what she did find in it made her jaw drop in surprise causing the lollypop to fall to the floor.

* * *

**A/N: **If you have not realised what Paige found in the drawer then you really need to watch the original episode. Otherwise, it should be pretty obvious. This chapter was a lot longer than my usual chapter lengths, but I wanted to fit in everything that came under the title 'work ethics', which had to include Phoebe and Paige getting fired, Prue groaning about Phoebe dating her boss, Paige bringing up yet again Andy's putting work before personal reasons excuses, and the discovery of the you-know-what in Prue's drawer. Does Paige think Prue stole it? What will Paige do? You will have to wait for the next chapter to find out. Please review!


	17. Wicca Envy (AndPiperShouldSeeAShrink)

**A/N:** Just in case it is not obvious, when there is an unidentified voice talking to Paige at the beginning of this chapter that is Rex using his strange following/astral projection power. It is very difficult sometimes to write from one character's perspective as there are some things which they cannot explain that still needs to be explained. Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: Wicca Envy (And Piper Should See a Shrink)**

Paige stared at the tiara. She did not want to pick it up, she did not want her finger prints all over it.

Paige was about to phone Prue's mobile phone but then did not. If Prue was already at the station, Paige did not want to start discussing the stolen tiara with Prue. It would be too risky for Prue.

Instead Paige dialled the number for Quake.

'You have reached Quake. Tremble at our quality meals with amazing deals. How may I help you?' It was a man's voice.

'Hi, can I speak to Piper please?' said Paige.

'May I ask who is enquiring?' said the man. Paige had a feeling that the man on the phone was Martin, being annoying as always.

Paige was about to say 'Piper's friend', but then decided against it. Martin would only have a moan at Piper about having personal calls during work hours. Therefore, Paige lied.

'Just tell her that her sister is on the phone. It is a family emergency.'

Paige was put onto hold and heard droning hold music. A minute or two later the music stopped and Piper's concerned voice became audible.

'Prue? Or is this Phoebe? What is going on this time? Is it a you-know-what type of family emergency that requires me to come home?' said Piper.

'Piper, it's Paige,' said Paige.

Paige heard Piper squeak on the other end of the phone. 'You found out about the sister thing?'

Paige was too involved with the tiara issue to think properly about what Piper had just said. 'What sister thing? I couldn't say friend or Martin would not have given you the phone. Piper, it is not magical related… at least, I do not think it is. However, this is really serious. Get back to the manor now. I will explain when you are here.'

Paige hung up and began to dial Phoebe's number.

'Hello?' asked Phoebe when she answered her phone.

'Hey Phoebe, it is Paige. Don't speak, just listen. Get home now. There is an emergency. Big big issue. Piper is on her way back. Prue is currently engaged but I will try phoning her after you and Piper are back here.'

Paige hung up before Phoebe could say anything in reply.

Suddenly, Paige heard a voice in the back of her mind.

'Paige,' it said. 'You will now close the drawer and forget that you saw the tiara.'

Paige closed the drawer and forgot all about the tiara.

'You will now phone Andy and tell him to come straight here as it is important,' said the voice.

Paige dialled Andy's number. His answer machine picked up: 'You have reached Detective Trudeau. I am busy right now, but please leave a message after the beep.'

There was a beep and Paige said, 'Andy! It's Paige! Come to the manor as soon as you get this message! It is important!'

Paige hung up.

'Now Paige,' said the voice. 'Pick up the Book of Shadows from under Prue's pillow and go to the living room while you await the arrival of the Halliwell sisters.'

Paige wandered over to Prue's pillow and lifted it up to find the Book of Shadows. 'Finally,' Paige muttered to herself.

Paige left Prue's room and went to the living room so as she could look through it while waiting for Piper and Phoebe to turn up.

* * *

The front door burst open ten minutes later to reveal Piper and Phoebe.

'Paige!' shouted Phoebe. 'Paige, what's going on?'

'What's the crisis that may or may not be magical?' asked Piper.

Paige stood up putting the Book down on the coffee table.

'The crisis?' said Paige confused.

'Crisis, emergency, urgent situation, disaster, 1999 birthday fiasco! Call it what you want! What is it?' said Phoebe.

'You tell me…' said Paige.

'Paige, you phoned us, remember?' said Piper. Her concern was starting to turn into irritation.

'Yes, of course I remember phoning you two,' said Paige. How stupid did they think she was?

'And..?' said Phoebe.

'And what?' said Paige. Was there something she was not getting?

'Why did you phone us?' said Phoebe annoyed.

'I phoned you,' said Paige. She was not too sure what she was missing out in the conversation. Her side seemed perfectly normal to her.

'Yes,' said Phoebe. 'We have got that part. We were there when you spoke to us on the phone.' Her frustration was showing.

'Paige, what was your reason for phoning us?' said Piper. Her tone had returned to concern. This time the concern was directed at Paige.

'I phoned you and Phoebe,' said Paige. She did not understand what Piper and Phoebe were not getting from her explanations.

'Paige, we are going in circles here,' said Phoebe. 'You phoned us. You said to get home now because there was an emergency. So here Piper and I are now. So now you need to explain to us what it is.'

'I phoned you, I told you to come home because of the emergency,' said Paige. She was getting irritated at Piper and Phoebe now. Why were they being so slow?

'Paige, are you okay?' said Piper, feeling Paige's forehead with the back of her hand. Piper turned to Phoebe. 'Maybe Paige was being attacked by a demon or warlock when she phoned us. Maybe they put a spell on her.'

Phoebe's annoyance vanished, replaced with alarm.

'That would explain a lot,' said Phoebe. She saw the Book of Shadows on the coffee table. 'I will check the Book for possible warlocks or demons with the ability to do this sort of thing.'

Phoebe sat on the sofa and started to look through the Book.

'There is nothing wrong with me,' said Paige.

Piper looked into Paige's eyes. She was trying to see if Paige's eyes gave away any sign of possession or enchantment.

'Paige, can you recall what was happening before or while you were on the phone to us?' asked Piper.

'Piper, I told you I am fine. I was talking to Prue on the phone while I was looking through her bedroom for the Book of Shadows. Then she had to go because she needed to go and see Andy at the police station. Then I phoned you and Phoebe. And then I left a message on Andy's answer phone asking him to come here. And then I found the Book of Shadows and came down here to wait for you two to come back.'

'Paige. Do you not see any problems with the account you just gave us?' said Piper.

Phoebe had stopping sifting through the Book and was looking at Paige.

'No… Why?' said Paige.

'What was the message you left on Andy's answer machine?' asked Phoebe.

'Er… I told him to get to the manor as soon as possible because it's important…' said Paige, not seeing what Piper and Phoebe were getting at.

'Why did you ask Andy to come here when you knew Prue and Andy would be at the station?' said Piper.

'Is this to do with the tiara stuff?' said Phoebe.

Piper nodded. 'Yeah. Prue phoned me to tell me about it earlier. Apparently Andy wanted to ask her more questions about it down at the station.'

'I know Andy was with Prue,' said Paige. 'That is why I have not phoned Prue to tell her to get straight back here yet.'

'Paige, did you hear what you just said?' asked Piper. 'Why do you think Prue would need to get straight back here? Why did you think that Phoebe and I should rush back here?'

Paige looked confused. 'How many times do I have to answer this question?'

'You have not answered it once yet,' said Phoebe.

'Paige, just have a lie down,' said Piper. 'Phoebe keep looking through the Book. I will phone Prue in a few minutes. Hopefully, she can shed some light on this…'

'There is nothing wrong with me,' said Paige, still not able to see what the problem was.

Piper phoned Prue who promised she would come home as soon as her shift at work was over. Piper made Phoebe and Paige lunch. After that Phoebe stopped looking through the Book so as she could go and get ready for her date with Rex. All that time, Paige was trying to figure out what Piper and Phoebe had not understood about what Paige had said.

* * *

Phoebe had left for her date before Prue got back from work. When Prue did return, she went straight up to Paige.

'Hi Paige,' said Prue.

'Hi. Are you going to say there is something wrong with me too?' asked Paige irritated.

'No,' said Prue. 'I am just worried because of what Piper told me over the phone. Piper is worried too. You seemed fine when I spoke to you on the phone earlier.'

'And I am fine now too!' said Paige. 'Why can't people see that?'

Paige saw Prue's eyes drift over to the Book of Shadows which sat on the coffee table.

'Don't you dare say that you will have a look through that to try and find out what might be wrong with me,' snapped Paige.

'I was not going to say that,' said Prue. 'I was going to ask where you found it in the end.'

'Oh. Sorry Prue. I did not mean to snap. I just do not like people fussing over me, especially when there is nothing the matter,' said Paige. 'I found it under your pillows.'

Prue nodded and smiled. 'I thought I must have kept it close to me when I finally fell asleep.'

'Then why did you not just tell me that right away?' laughed Paige. 'It would have saved me a lot of trouble. It's your own fault if you find your room a tip when you go up there.'

Prue laughed. 'I was not too sure if that was where I had left it. Besides, if my room is a tip, it is probably Phoebe's fault. I assume she found another outfit of mine to 'recycle' for her date tonight?'

Paige nodded. 'You know Phoebe far too well.'

* * *

The next morning, Paige woke up in the attic to the sounds of raised voices downstairs. Prue and Phoebe were arguing. Paige quickly realised that it was most likely to be to do with Rex.

Initially Paige decided against going downstairs, but then she thought that Piper might need rescuing if she was stuck in the middle of it.

As Paige left the attic, she heard the doorbell ring and the raised voices stopped. As Paige made her way down the stairs to the foyer area, she saw the sisters at the door, staring at Andy and his partner Darryl Morris.

'We're here to search your house for the tiara, Prue. We've got a search warrant,' said Andy, holding up the warrant.

Paige ran back to the attic quickly. She had to make sure the Book of Shadows was locked away just in case Andy and Darryl decided to search there too.

When Paige came back down the attic steps, she heard voices coming from Prue's room. Paige walked into Prue's room just as Andy was saying, 'It wasn't there, Prue.'

Andy opened Prue's desk drawer and Piper froze the room gawping.

'Why did you do that?' said Prue.

From the desk drawer, Piper pulled out the tiara.

'Paige, didn't you say you were going through Prue's drawers earlier looking for the Book?' said Piper.

Paige nodded.

'Did you not see this?' asked Piper.

'I remember looking in the desk drawer,' said Paige. 'That was when I decided I should phone you two. I definitely did not see the tiara in there.'

'Do you think whoever is framing Prue saw Paige find the tiara?' Phoebe asked Prue and Piper.

'They did not want their cover blown though, so made Paige forget…' said Piper.

'Which is why Paige phoned you two but had no memory of what the emergency was…' said Prue.

'Which means that whoever is framing you, Prue, is magical,' said Phoebe.

'Okay, so now I can admit that maybe there is something wrong with me, but shouldn't we be hiding that tiara before they unfreeze?' said Paige.

'It doesn't matter. Just let them find it. I have nothing to hide. I'm innocent,' said Prue.

'That doesn't look very innocent. Piper, hide it,' said Phoebe.

As Piper moved the tiara under Prue's pillow, Paige was piecing things together.

'I phoned Andy, which is probably one of the reasons he is here now,' said Paige. 'I don't know why I phoned him though. Do you think whoever made me forget also made me phone Andy?'

'That would suggest that this person has powers that can control someone's subconscious mind,' said Prue. 'That would mean they can do a lot more than just a mind wipe.'

Andy and Darryl unfroze and went to look under the pillows so Piper had to freeze them again.

At a loss as to how they knew to look there, Piper put the tiara in the dressing table drawer.

On unfreezing, Andy and Darryl headed straight for the dressing table, so Piper froze them again.

'This is getting ridiculous,' said Piper.

'I agree with you there,' said Paige.

'Eerie is more like it,' said Prue.

Taking the tiara from the dressing table drawer, Phoebe said 'I will be right back' and left the room.

'Don't worry,' said Piper. 'I will keep freezing them until they give up.'

Piper's expression suddenly changed.

'Piper?' said Paige worried.

'What's the matter?' asked Prue.

'I don't know,' said Piper. 'I feel like calling a shrink for some reason.'

Paige laughed. 'Piper, if anyone needs a shrink I think it would be me. It was me who was apparently going insane yesterday.'

Prue and Piper smiled. Despite the events of the past twenty four hours, Paige was in a good mood.

Phoebe returned just as Andy and Darryl were unfreezing. She quickly told Prue, Piper, and Paige that she had hidden the tiara in the attic.

With apologies, Andy said goodbye to Prue and left with Darryl.

Prue went to the front door to see the two men out. Paige remained in Prue's room with Piper and Phoebe.

'Is that your lollypop on the floor by Prue's desk?' laughed Phoebe.

'Oops,' said Paige.

Paige tugged it up off of the carpet and threw it in the bin.

'Anyway, now that we know a little bit more about your enemy, I am going to…' began Paige. She saw Piper and Phoebe mouth the second part in time with her: '… check the Book of Shadows.'

Paige rolled her eyes. 'That is too common a sentence in this household.'

As Paige sat on the attic sofa, she searched through the Book of Shadows looking for specific demons or warlocks that could control the subconscious. She heard the phone ring downstairs and then she saw Leo enter the attic.

'Don't mind me, Paige,' said Leo as he shut the door and put his toolbox down. 'I am just doing something for the Elders. I need to know where Phoebe hid the tiara.'

Paige put the Book down. 'You know about that?'

Leo nodded. 'Yes, there are powerful warlocks at work. They are after the Charmed Ones' powers.'

'This is very bad,' said Paige. 'I know Phoebe definitely hid the tiara somewhere up here. I just don't know where.'

Leo was holding his hands out above the drawers causing them to open. Leo and Paige heard footsteps on the attic stairs. Paige quickly hid the Book as Leo was not supposed to know about the existence of magic, and Leo quickly shut all the drawers with his magic.

Piper entered the attic. Seeing Leo, she asked, 'Leo, what are you doing? I thought you were going to fix the sink.'

'Yeah, I was, I mean, I am. I just need to fix a light downstairs and I was hoping there would be some old fixtures up here that I could cannibalise,' said Leo. Then he turned to Piper, with a serious face, 'Listen, there's something I need to tell you. Something I don't think you will like. I might have to leave here soon. I might have to go back home.'

'What?' shouted Paige. Leo had not mentioned this to her. What task had the Elders given him that would mean he could not be in San Francisco for a while?

'Is home far away?' asked Piper, ignoring Paige's outburst.

'Yeah, it's pretty far,' said Leo. Paige realised he must be referring to where he went when he spoke to the Elders. 'I mean, I don't know for sure yet, but, you know, I wanted you to know, just in case.'

'Thanks,' said Piper.

'I better get to work,' said Leo. He bent over a cabinet, pretending to look for light fixtures.

Piper kissed Leo as he left the attic.

'I was just coming up here to see how you were getting on with the Book,' said Piper.

'Well, I had to hide it when Leo came in,' lied Paige. 'So I did not get much of a chance to find anything.'

Piper nodded. Paige noticed Piper glance at a drawer that was still partially open. Piper and Paige approached the drawer. Inside the drawer was the tiara.

'Phoebe did not hide it very well, did she?' laughed Paige.

Piper sighed. 'We are definitely lucky Andy did not think about searching up here.'

* * *

Later that day, both Prue and Piper were at work, and Phoebe was getting some sleep before her next date with Rex.

Paige used the chance to talk to Leo while he was fixing the bathroom sink.

'Hi,' said Paige.

Leo did not look up from beneath the sink. 'Hey Paige. Can you pass me the ratchet extension?'

Paige passed Leo the ratchet extension – whatever that was.

'Thank you,' said Leo.

'Why are you leaving for a long while?' asked Paige.

'The Elders have added a future white lighter to my list of charges,' said Leo. 'She is being stalked by a dark lighter who thinks he is in love with her. I need to take up a lot of my time making sure she is safe from him.'

Paige smiled. 'You are such a good white lighter. Putting your job before your relationships even if they are against the rules.'

'Paige, you aren't going to tell the Elders about Piper and me, are you?' said Leo.

'Of course not,' said Paige. 'I may feel grossed out by your relationship with one of my best friends, but I would rather see you together and happy than see you alone and unhappy.'

'Thank you, Paige,' said Leo from beneath the sink.

Then Paige added, 'Plus the longer we keep it from the Elders the better. They annoy me so much that it makes it more fun to break the rules that they create.'

'Good thing you are not a witch then,' laughed Leo. 'You would be all over that using spells for personal gain stuff.'

Paige was glad that Leo was not facing her when he said that as her face had sunk at those words. After all, she _was_ a witch and he did not know it.

As Paige left Leo alone in the bathroom, she bumped into Phoebe in the corridor.

'Is Leo still fixing the sink in there?' Phoebe asked. 'I need the bathroom to take a shower before my date with Rex.'

Leo finished up in the bathroom for the evening. Phoebe left for her date an hour later. Then Piper came home, so Paige was not home alone.

* * *

Paige still had not had a chance to check the Book of Shadows for a spell to try on Piper. So much had gotten in the way. As she and Piper were now the only two home with little to do, Paige decided she may as well just try and talk to Piper about it again.

'Piper, what are you hiding from me?' said Paige bluntly.

Piper had been stirring some soup in a saucepan on the hob. She suddenly stopped when Paige asked this.

'Hiding? What are you on about, Paige?' Piper's voice heightened in pitch as she said this.

'Piper,' said Paige. Just keep hassling the Halliwell.

'What Paige? I am not hiding anything,' said Piper.

Paige shook her head in distress. How else could she get the secret out of Piper without using magic? Then Paige thought back to that morning when Piper had made the random comment about feeling like going to a shrink. That was definitely a non-magical way of getting her to open up, but it would be too slow and expensive. Magic was definitely Paige's only option.

'Right, that's it, Piper,' said Paige. 'If you are not going to tell me, I will be forced to cast the truth spell.'

Piper turned from the hob to face Paige. Piper's eyes widened in fear.

'Don't Paige,' said Piper. 'Please don't. I just cannot tell you, okay? It is for your own protection.'

The phone rang.

Paige picked it up as Piper went back to stirring the soup.

'Hello?' said Paige.

'Prue has just been arrested,' said Phoebe from the other end of the line.

* * *

**A/N:** There was another Paige/Leo talk in this chapter. I think Paige is slowly accepting the Piper/Leo relationship. The only concern will be when I get to episodes that Leo was absent in within the canon series. Unless I need to bring Leo in, there may be some lacking in Leo, but those ones will allow the sisters to get closer (that is when they are all in the know and I cannot spoil for you when that will happen).


	18. Wicca Envy (AndThePowerofThree-in-One)

**A/N:** So, I forgot to ask: in chapter sixteen, did anyone notice Paige's middle name? Did anyone have an idea as to why Leo would give her that middle name? :) If you have seen _Charmed_ season two, you should be able to figure out the answer. Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Wicca Envy (And The Power of Three-in-One)**

Piper had left to pick Phoebe up from Bucklands. The two of them were going to go and see if they could sort Prue out a lawyer. Paige had staid behind at the manor as she wanted to see if she could find out who the demon or warlock behind all this was. It was a race to see which would bring justice faster: the natural or the supernatural.

As Leo could sense his charges, he had found out what had happened with Prue so had returned to the manor to help Paige search for an answer.

'Should we get rid of the tiara?' asked Paige.

'No,' said Leo. 'Leave it where it is.'

Paige nodded. 'Okay.'

Paige was sitting on the sofa in the living room, flicking through the Book of Shadows. Leo sat down next to her and scanned the pages of the Book.

'Piper and Phoebe probably won't be back all evening now,' said Paige. 'Not until they get justice for Prue.'

'I know,' said Leo.

The phone rang and Paige picked it up.

'Hey I am hoping this is Piper or Phoebe with good news?' said Paige. 'Or it would be even better if this were Prue.'

'It's Phoebe,' said Phoebe. 'We think Rex is the warlock. I am just waiting outside the jail while Piper breaks Prue out.'

'What?' said Paige. 'The lengths you three go through to keep each other safe is just… amazing.'

'We would do it for you too,' said Phoebe.

Paige smiled. 'Good luck, Pheebs.'

Paige could hear a door creak open and slam shut on the other end of the line.

'Prue and Piper are here now,' said Phoebe still talking to Paige on the phone. It sounded like she was running now.

'Oh no,' Paige heard Phoebe say.

'What? What's happened?' asked Paige worried.

'But why all the drama? Why didn't you just kill us and take our powers?' Paige heard Phoebe say. Did this mean that Rex was there?

Paige did not hang up as Phoebe had not hung up yet. Suddenly Phoebe started talking into the phone again.

'Paige? Are you still there?' Phoebe asked.

'Yes. I am waiting to find out what's going on,' said Paige.

'Cliff notes version,' began Phoebe. 'Rex just took a photo of Piper and me breaking Prue out of jail. He is using it to blackmail us in return for our powers. Apparently Hannah has been at the manor and taken the tiara.'

'She has?' said Paige. 'I wouldn't know if she had blinked in. The tiara is, or was, in the attic, and I have been downstairs since Piper left.'

'Paige, we are on our way back now,' said Phoebe. 'Can you start looking for the spell that Prue, Piper, and I can use to give up our powers?'

'Sure,' said Paige hesitantly. 'Is there nothing else you can do?'

'I don't know…' said Phoebe sombrely.

Paige hung up as she started whipping through the Book of Shadows again. She explained everything that had occurred to Leo.

'When you hear that front door unlocking, you better orb out,' said Paige, not looking up from the Book.

After a few minutes, Paige found what she had been looking for.

'I found it! It's a Relinquishment spell,' said Paige. 'They have to read it aloud.'

* * *

Leo orbed out as the sisters entered the manor.

'I found the page,' said Paige. 'I can't let you do this though.'

'Paige, this isn't for you to discuss,' said Prue. 'We know you care but these are not your powers.'

'Then I am going for a walk because I cannot watch you do this,' said Paige. 'There has to be another way around this, though, because you know that as soon as you give Rex your powers, he won't just let you go. He's a warlock. He is going to double cross you and kill you.'

Paige left the manor and went for a walk. After twenty minutes or so, Paige found herself passing her old flat. The flat she had grown up in. The flat which she had called home before she had met the Halliwells. Ever since she had met the Halliwells, her life had changed a lot. There were so many good things in her new life, but there was also a lot more chaos than there used to be.

Paige sat on the doorstep of her old flat. The 'to let' sign was still up, suggesting that the flat was still empty so no one would mind her sitting there. Something she had always liked about this flat was that she could see the Golden Gate Bridge from here, as the flat was at the top of a hilly street, so looked down upon the bridge. When she was little, she always liked the idea that she was higher than the bridge. It made her feel like she was on top of the world.

Suddenly Paige saw three balls of light come whizzing across the sky. They were definitely supernatural and they were heading straight for her. Paige ducked to the ground, but she was too slow. The balls of light had already engulfed her. She felt no pain though. She felt strange.

Paige decided she had better get back to Halliwell manor as fast as she could in case this was another attack from Rex. He had already messed with her mind once. Was he doing it again except she was more aware of it this time because she knew about his powers?

Paige caught sight of a bus that would take her to Prescott Street. However, the bus had already pulled away from the bus stop. Paige held her hands out, hoping it would stop.

Suddenly the whole street around her went blue, except for a protective non-blue bubble that she stood in. The bus had stopped moving, so had other people who had been walking up and down the street.

'This can't be…' Paige muttered to herself. 'Have I… frozen them?'

As Paige approached the bus and manually opened the bus door, stepping onto the bus, all the blue disappeared, allowing everything to unfreeze. The bus driver jumped at Paige's sudden appearance. Paige gave him the money, told him where she was headed and sat down at the back of the bus.

She tried to think everything through. She had just been hit by three balls of light. She also knew that she suddenly found herself with an abnormal version of Piper's power to freeze. She also knew that the Halliwell sisters may have recently just relinquished their powers. None of this seemed to connect clearly.

* * *

At Prescott street, Paige ran off the bus and straight towards the manor. Paige got her house keys out of her pocket, unlocked the front door, and stuck her hand onto the door to push it open.

Paige had been orbed to many places by Leo over the last twenty years. Therefore, she knew what an orb felt like. As she touched the front door, Paige felt like she had been orbed into the attic. However, she felt like she was looking out through blue tinted glasses because the attic was blue and so was everything else in the attic.

_Two women were standing in the middle of a circle of candles. Another two women were standing outside of the circle of candles talking to them._

'Hello? What's going on?' asked Paige.

The four women did not turn around. They could not hear Paige. Then Paige recognised the two women standing outside of the circle. One was Piper. The other was herself. How could she be here and there at the same time?

_The younger of the two women in the circle spoke to Piper and the other Paige. 'Paige, honey, your spell did work,' the young woman said._

_'It did?' said the other Paige in confusion._

_'Paige, I am your mother,' said the young woman._

_'What?' said Piper and the other Paige together._

_'Does that mean Paige and I are sisters?' asked Piper._

_'Half-sisters,' said the older woman._

As she watched this occur, the observing Paige's jaw dropped. Was she having a premonition of the past? Was this what Piper had been hiding from her? Did this happen on the day of the truth spell?

Paige realised she had not been paying attention to whatever had been said next. The four women of Paige's past were now starting to talk about the Power of Three.

_Their mother was saying, 'We discussed it. And we think that it is an interchangeable Power of Three. You can have any combination of three out of four of you for the spell to work. The Power of Three will be different when you are part of it, Paige, but what is amazing is that you can be a part of it. You are part of the destiny.'_

_'Hang on. There are only three powers… What is Paige's special power?' asked Piper._

_'We can only guess,' said Patty. 'The Book of Shadows only refers to the 'three essentials of magic: Feeling, timing, and phases of the moon'. Therefore, we have no idea what power you could be granted, Paige.'_

The premonition ended and Paige felt like she had orbed back onto the doorstep of Halliwell manor. Paige fell to the floor of the foyer as she entered the manor.

Everything was piecing itself together in her head now. On the day of the truth spell, Paige had decided to summon her parents. Piper must have walked in on her while she was summoning them. Therefore, the secret that Piper had been keeping from Paige all those weeks was that she knew that Paige was their sister. As Paige was related – and if the Power of Three really was interchangeable – then Paige must have received all three of the sisters' powers when they had said the relinquishment spell. That was what the three balls of light had been. For some strange reason, Paige's version of their powers was a little different.

The only thing which Paige could not quite explain was why had Piper not reminded Paige of this important information after the truth spell had caused her to forget? And why had Piper not told Prue and Phoebe that they had another sister?

Paige ran up to the attic, hoping to find her sisters in there. She walked in on Leo in the attic.

'Where are the Halliwells?' asked Paige.

'Paige, are you okay? You sound out of breath,' said Leo.

'Where are they?'

'I think they are at Bucklands,' said Leo. Then he muttered 'This isn't right…'

'What isn't right?' asked Paige. Leo was looking at the Book of Shadows.

'The sisters gave up their powers,' said Leo. 'The pages of the Book should be empty, but they are not…'

'Isn't that a good thing?' said Paige.

'I was supposed to reverse the Relinquishment spell,' said Leo. 'It will take more time now because I need to go and speak to the Elders first. The Book should be empty.'

Leo orbed out.

Paige walked over to the Book of Shadows and touched the page in order to turn it. She felt like she was being orbed elsewhere again.

She was standing in a blue tinted version of the Bucklands corridor.

_Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were walking down the corridor talking to each other. Prue was holding the lantern that was supposed to possess their powers after they had said the Relinquishment spell._

'Prue! Piper! Phoebe!' shouted Paige. No reaction. This was another premonition. Was this the future or the past?

_Rex came out of his office, and came to a stop a metre from the sisters._

_'Here you are, powerless I presume,' said Rex._

_Prue asked about Hannah's whereabouts. Rex gave an answer and then asked for the lantern. Prue handed him the lantern. Rex looked at it and fury spread over his face._

_'Your powers are not in here!' he shouted. 'Don't try to double cross me, witches!'_

_'We don't have our powers!' shouted Piper._

_'We said the spell,' said Prue._

_'I don't believe you, witches,' said Rex._

_A panther came out of Rex's office. 'Hannah, they still have their powers. We may as well try and kill them now anyway. We have them cornered. And once they are dead, we will possess their powers.'_

_'We don't have our powers,' said Prue. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were backing up along the corridor._

'I have their powers!' shouted Paige. 'The spell went wrong! They are not lying!'

Nobody could hear her because she was not really there.

_The panther pounced at the Halliwells._

Before she saw the panther land, Paige already found herself back in the attic, as if she had been orbed back there.

Paige found herself on the attic floor, sweating. She did not like her version of Phoebe's premonition power. Paige did not know how Phoebe usually saw premonitions: Maybe that was how Phoebe saw her premonitions too.

Leo returned to the attic in a flurry of orbs.

'What are you doing down there, Paige?' asked Leo, concern in his voice.

Leo helped Paige to her feet.

'I saw – I saw…' said Paige in between deep breaths. 'The sisters are powerless. Rex does not believe them. He is going to kill them anyway. I don't know how much time I have before that happens.'

'Paige? Do you mean you saw the future?' said Leo.

'I don't have time to discuss this now!' said Paige. 'How long before you can return their powers to them?'

'Well, I do not know where their powers have gone,' said Leo. 'Therefore, the spell will take longer to take effect if I perform it now.'

'Should I tell him that I have their powers just to speed the process up?' she thought.

As if Leo had read Paige's mind, he said 'Even if we knew who had the power, it would take just as long for the spell to work. The point is that the powers are not within that lantern, which would have made this reversal spell so much simpler and shorter.'

'How long will it take?' said Paige panicking.

'Maybe half an hour,' said Leo.

'I am going there now to help them,' said Paige. 'Cast that spell now!'

Leo nodded and held his hands over the Book. It glowed.

Paige left the manor and approached her car.

She groaned in anger, she needed to go back inside for her car keys. 'Damn, car keys,' said Paige.

There was a blue glow as the car keys appeared in her hand.

'Is this my version of Prue's telekinesis?' thought Paige.

She got in the car and drove as fast as she could to Bucklands. The traffic lights were about to change from green to red. Paige held her hand out and a bubble of blue appeared around the traffic light, causing the lights to stay green (well, actually, the green light looked more like turquoise as it was within a blue bubble, but that was not the point).

Even though Paige was in a panic to save her sisters, she had already decided that she liked Piper's power the best. Prue's power of telekinesis was also quite entertaining. Paige disliked Phoebe's power though, even though it had been very helpful in revealing to her what Piper had been hiding, and in showing Paige that her sisters were in big trouble.

* * *

Paige pulled up outside Bucklands and got into the elevator, and pressed the button for the correct floor.

Paige became stressed as the elevator went up slowly playing dull elevator music. 'Hurry up!' Paige screamed at the empty elevator.

The elevator doors opened and Paige walked out into the corridor.

'We don't have our powers,' Prue was saying as she, Piper, and Phoebe moved backward.

Piper and Phoebe spotted Paige. 'Paige, get out of here, it's not safe,' hissed Phoebe.

Prue turned to see Paige standing there as the panther pounced in their direction.

Paige held her hands out and the room froze in a blue bubble, including Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

'Did they freeze because they gave up their powers?' Paige thought.

Paige stuck her arm into the blue bubble and pulled Piper out of it into the non-blue area that surrounded Paige.

'What is going on?' said Piper. 'Why are they inside a blue bubble? Why are they frozen?'

'Piper, the three of you have around fifteen minutes before you get your powers back. Then you can make sure to freeze just Rex and Hannah so as Prue can use her telekinesis to move them around so they can kill each other instead of you three,' said Paige.

Piper was speechless.

'So Piper, while we wait, you and I can have a little chat about something very important.'

Piper looked around at Prue and Phoebe.

'Don't worry. They are fine as long as Rex and Hannah stay frozen too,' said Paige.

'How have you frozen them? And there's blue everywhere… Could you explain?' said Piper, very confused.

'Piper, should I really explain this to you after all the times you have refused to tell me why you have been acting strangely around me?'

Piper opened her mouth, then shut it again, unsure of what to say.

'Luckily for you, Piper, that ties in with my explanation very nicely. So here is my cliff notes version, Nancy Drew: You, Prue, and Phoebe relinquished your powers. As you already knew, the Power of Three is interchangeable between the four of us because I am related. You already knew I was your sister. As part of the Power of Three, when you relinquished your powers, they were automatically passed into me, instead of into that weird lantern. Therefore I had a lovely surprise in managing to freeze a street, followed by an informative premonition of you and me talking to Grams and mum about being your sister. Then I was greeted by another premonition of Rex and Hannah attacking you three: The picturesque moment you see before your eyes right now of Hannah pouncing at your two sisters – except in my vision, I did not come in to save you, so imagine yourself back inside that blue bubble standing by Prue and Phoebe about to be pounced on by Hannah. That instructive premonition allowed me to rush here, and find out that I also have a slightly different version of Prue's telekinesis. Like this, for example: Lantern.'

The lantern in Rex's hands disappeared and reappeared in Paige's hands amongst a blue glow.

Tears were coming out of Piper's eyes, 'Paige, I am so sorry. I had my reasons for keeping it from you.'

'I would like to know them,' said Paige. 'I am sorry if I sound harsh right now, but I had to get you up to track with everything that I know in the short fifteen minutes I had.'

Piper let out a sob. 'Paige, are you mad at me?'

Paige did not reply. She looked at her watch. 'The powers will return to the three of you in three, two, one…'

The ball of light left Paige's body and split into three smaller balls of light which then flew into Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

The blue bubble disappeared and Hannah was about to complete her pounce on Prue and Phoebe.

Piper stuck her hands out. Hannah and Rex refroze.

'That was a close one,' said Prue, taking a deep breath.

'How did you get over there?' Phoebe asked Piper. 'I swear you were over here a second ago.'

'Prue, could you deal with Rex and Hannah before we all start discussing stuff,' said Paige.

Paige watched as Prue and Piper worked together to vanquish Rex and Hannah. As the two warlocks disappeared, burning to the ground, Phoebe said to Prue and Piper, 'When did we get our powers back?'

'We will talk about that later,' said Piper.

'You are right,' said Prue. 'I need to get back to jail.'

* * *

That evening, when Piper, Phoebe, and Paige returned to the manor, they all sat down in the living room.

'How long do you think it will be until they release Prue?' asked Phoebe.

'She will probably be back by tomorrow morning,' said Piper.

'Should we be checking the Book to see why we got our powers back?' asked Phoebe.

'Nope,' said Paige. 'The reason I turned up was because I knew you were about to get them back. Remember I was sent here to guide you? My source sorted it all out for you.'

Paige saw Piper looking at Paige strangely.

'I still want to go and have a look…' said Phoebe. She ran upstairs to the attic.

'So are you going to tell them or am I?' asked Piper.

'Why would you think that I do not want to tell them that I am their sister?' asked Paige.

'You just neglected to tell Phoebe the part about you freezing her, Prue, and the warlocks, in order to allow time for the spell reversal to take place,' said Piper.

'So that's what the strange look was about?' said Paige.

Piper nodded.

'I will tell them in good time,' said Paige. 'Before I do, dear sister of mine, you still have some questions to answer.'

* * *

**A/N: **So what did you think of Paige's white lighter versions of freezing and premonition? Just to be clear, Paige does not know she is a white lighter yet. Oh wow, only ten reviews away from one hundred!


	19. Wicca Envy (PlusABrainDrainGoofOrTwo)

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews. Yay to passing one hundred! To celebrate one hundred reviews, I thought it would be nice to post the last chapter of _Wicca Envy _up today (yes only one day after the last update!). If you have not already noticed that there will be references to a specific episode of season four in this chapter, then you will know now. As you know the Relinquishment spell connects _Wicca Envy _to a particular season four episode. :) Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Wicca Envy (Plus A Brain Drain Goof or Two)**

'Why didn't you tell me, Piper?' said Paige seriously.

'I'm sorry, Paige,' said Piper. 'I had my reasons.'

'And what were they?' said Paige.

Piper had been looking down at her feet. She now lifted her head to look directly at Paige. Paige could see that Piper's eyes were wet. She was close to tears.

'Paige, you were going to leave us,' said Piper.

'Leave? Why would I do that? I had just found out that you, Prue, and Phoebe were my family!' said Paige.

'That is why I did not tell you,' said Piper. 'I thought you might just try and leave again.'

'Piper is there something I am still missing about that day?' said Paige. 'I don't see why I would want to leave straight after finding out such amazing news.'

'You… you wanted to…' Piper stopped. She did not look like she knew whether she should be disclosing this information. 'Paige, you wanted to look for your father. Your real father.'

'Did mum mention who he was?' said Paige.

'She gave you a name, Sam Wilder, but no address or idea of where he might be,' said Piper.

'My real dad is alive,' said Paige. She was smiling now and gazing out the window, trying to imagine a figure that was her father.

Paige looked back to Piper. Piper was smiling now, but tears were trailing down her face.

'What's wrong, Piper?'

'You are going to leave now, aren't you?' said Piper. 'You want to find your dad. I definitely don't deserve you as a sister after keeping all of this from you.'

Paige hugged Piper.

'Piper, I am going to stay right here,' said Paige.

'I understand. You have every right to find him,' said Piper. Then Piper pulled out of the hug and stared at Paige. 'Hang on, did you just say that you are staying?'

Paige smiled and nodded.

This time Piper hugged Paige, squeezing her tightly.

'Piper. Can't breathe. Too tight,' said Paige.

'Sorry,' Piper said, letting Paige go. 'I am just so happy that you are staying, but why?'

'We know that my dad is alive, but there was a reason that my parents – I mean, our mum and my dad – gave me up,' said Paige.

'Mum said something about being worried that it would affect the destiny of me, Prue, and Phoebe as the Charmed Ones,' said Piper.

'Exactly. If I find my dad and the Elders find out, then there may be problems with the destiny of you, Prue, and Phoebe as the Charmed Ones. I could never do that to the three of you.'

'Paige, you mentioned Elders and white lighters on the day of the truth spell and never explained what they were then,' said Piper. 'Could you do that now so as I can understand your sentence?'

'I can understand mentioning Elders on that day,' said Paige. 'Why did I mention white lighters?'

'I don't know, you just did when you wanted to know whether your dad was human, witch, or a white lighter. How can I answer that without knowing what any of this is?' said Piper.

'Did mum say which he was? Piper, white lighters are like guardian angels for witches,' said Paige. 'They guide witches, help witches, and can also heal them.'

'No, she did not want you to go looking for him. Wow, apart from the healing bit that sounds exactly like what you do. Are you sure you are not one?' Piper joked.

Paige laughed. 'I wish.' She would love the ability to orb and to heal, and the idea of being able to glamour was quite entertaining too. Then Paige added, 'If she did not want me to go looking for him, then I guess she is also still worried about what will happen if the Elders find out. I guess the more people who know, the more likely that the Elders will find out about who my real family are.'

'Wait, if you say witches are supposed to have white lighters, then where is ours?' asked Piper.

Paige had to think fast. Leo would be mad if she blew his cover. 'The Elders appointed you with me instead. That is quite lucky for us considering I just so happened to be related. The Elders can never find out though.'

'Who or what are the Elders?' asked Piper.

'Well, the Elders are like a white lighter's bosses. They also kind of oversee the magical world,' said Paige. 'They can be really arrogant and annoying though. They are the ones who made the personal gain spells have consequences rule.'

'I don't like the sound of them already,' said Piper.

Paige nodded.

There was a silence for a few minutes. Then, Paige broke it.

'Should I tell Prue and Phoebe?' said Paige. 'I mean it is big news.'

'It's better than big news,' said Piper. 'It's wonderful news.'

'Can we risk telling them without the Elders finding out?' said Paige.

'Can the Elders hear the conversation we are having right now?' asked Piper.

'Sometimes they are listening in and sometimes they are not,' said Paige. 'I think we would have found out by now if they knew what we have been sitting here discussing because I believe my source would have turned up by now to talk to me.'

'Your source? You have mentioned them before,' said Piper. 'Your source is not the Elders?'

Her source was Leo, but she could not say that. 'No, my source is the person who relays information between me and the Elders. Only white lighters have the power to orb – I mean teleport – up there to see them. I am only a witch so I cannot do that.'

'So your source is a white lighter?' said Piper. 'Could we ever meet this white lighter?'

'Er, no,' said Paige. 'He is busy with his other charges.'

'Charges?' said Piper.

Paige explained what a 'charge' was.

'I do not understand this, Paige,' said Piper. 'Not that I am pleased to have you as our guide, but we are the Charmed Ones. Why do we not have a white lighter?'

'Piper, I have no answer to give you,' said Paige. She could not let Leo down. She would not blow his cover.

The two sisters were silent again. After another few minutes Piper spoke up.

'So are we telling Prue and Phoebe?' said Piper. 'I think that finding out that you are our sister is better than our staying witches. I am sure Prue and Phoebe would agree.'

'You cannot give up your destinies for me,' said Paige. 'There are and will always be innocents out there who need the Charmed Ones' help.'

Piper and Paige did not discuss this topic any further that evening.

* * *

Paige woke up during the middle of the night. She could not sleep. The sister dilemma was on her mind. Was she going to tell Prue and Phoebe? What if Paige did tell them and then they had their powers taken away?

Paige tip-toed down to the kitchen and removed a lolly from the jar to suck on. She sat down at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands.

Paige heard the sound of Leo orbing into the kitchen. She did not look up from her hands.

'Having trouble sleeping?' whispered Leo.

'Maybe,' mumbled Paige. 'What brings you here at this time of night?'

'I could sense that you were awake,' whispered Leo.

'You can't watch over me forever,' said Paige. 'Besides you told Piper you were going to be leaving for a long while, didn't you? Remember how you are supposed to be helping out a future white lighter.'

'Yes, I told Piper that because I won't be coming to the manor for the Halliwells for a while,' said Leo. 'I will still come to talk to you if you need me. Besides I did not tell you the whole truth earlier.'

Paige looked up at Leo for the first time since he had orbed in.

'What do you mean?' asked Paige.

'It is true that the Elders have given me more charges to deal with,' said Leo. 'They have also said that you have been doing such a good job guiding the sisters that I do not need to come here so often because they have you.'

'You mean you aren't going to be their white lighter anymore?' Paige was surprised. She felt like she was having a load of responsibility thrown on her at once.

'I will still be their white lighter,' said Leo. 'The Elders just want to see how you cope dealing with the sisters by yourself. I think if you are successful, the Elders might think about granting you with some powers of your own.'

'The Elders can do that?' asked Paige. This also suggested to Paige that the Elders had not found out about the fact that Paige was a witch.

'Well, I know that the Elders can take away a white lighter's ability. They can also take away a good witch's powers,' said Leo. 'So they must be able to grant them too.'

'Hang on. You have contradicted yourself. Are you or are you not going to be visiting me while you are away?' said Paige.

'If you feel that you need my help, I will come,' said Leo. 'However I won't be orbing in to check up on you anymore. So you can stop moaning at me about the possibility of orbing in on a room full of Halliwells.'

'So did you come here to say goodbye then?' said Paige.

'Well, I will come here tomorrow morning to check everything is okay with Prue, and to say goodbye to Piper,' said Leo. 'I will make an excuse about leaving my toolbox in the attic.'

'Then why come here now? Why did you not wait until tomorrow to speak to me?'

'I have another reason for talking to you right now,' said Leo. 'Earlier today, you said you had a vision…'

'Oh, that…' said Paige. Had he realised the truth?

'Yes, Paige,' said Leo smiling. 'This is great!'

'It is?' said Paige. She had expected him to be mad that she had not told him.

'Yes! We are one step closer to finding out about your real family! If you are a Seer, then at least one of your parents must have been a Seer!'

Paige stared at Leo. So he did not know the truth. What was more embarrassing was the assumption he had made.

'I am not a Seer,' said Paige.

'You had a vision, Paige,' said Leo.

'No, I was just honing in on my senses very well…' improvised Paige. 'I could sense that trouble was coming for the Halliwells. It must be a side effect from growing up with a white lighter.'

Paige looked at Leo's face to see if her lie had convinced him. It had.

Then Paige added, 'Besides, I think I would be more likely to find out I was related to a Cupid than to a Seer. The way I keep trying to meddle with Prue and Andy's relationship, you would probably think that. Even though, I have not managed to get them back together, so that shows how unlikely that is.'

Leo laughed.

* * *

The next morning, Prue returned. Her name had been cleared.

Piper welcomed Prue back with open arms. Prue and Phoebe exchanged positive words. Paige welcomed Prue back.

Paige now saw Prue in a whole new light. Prue was not just the eldest Halliwell sister, she was Paige's eldest sister. Prue was brave, full of pride, and would do anything to protect her younger sisters.

* * *

Later that morning, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were all in the attic. Prue was looking for the page with the Relinquishment spell on.

'Here it is,' said Prue, ripping the page from the Book.

'What are you doing?' asked Phoebe.

'Just getting rid of the Relinquishment spell. However we got our powers back, I certainly don't want to risk losing them again,' said Prue.

Paige exchanged looks with Piper. Prue had just answered the question of Piper and Paige's dilemma without Prue even knowing there was a dilemma. Prue did not want to chance losing her powers. That meant that it was best that Paige did not tell Prue and Phoebe that she was their sister, because there was a chance the Elders would find out, and then that they would lose their powers.

Paige nodded at Piper who said hesitantly, 'I second that.'

'Third,' said Phoebe.

There was a knock on the attic door.

'Do you think that's Leo?' said Piper. 'Why do you think he is here?'

Paige noticed Leo's toolbox on the attic floor.

'That's probably why,' said Paige, gesturing to it.

Piper picked it up. 'I will take this to him and get rid of him,' said Piper.

'And snog him in between those two excuses,' added Phoebe laughing.

Piper opened the attic door. 'Hi Leo. Looking for this? Let's go downstairs. Do you want some coffee?'

Leo and Piper disappeared down the hall.

'Well, I was going to let Piper set this alight,' said Prue. 'Seeing as how she has gone off with Leo, though…'

Prue passed the match box to Paige.

'Prue, why can't I do it?' shouted Phoebe.

'I don't trust you with matches,' laughed Prue. 'Phoebe plus Fire equals Total Destruction.'

'Pheebs, I really do not want to do it,' said Paige. 'You can.'

Prue sighed. She handed Phoebe the page which had the spell on it. As Phoebe took the matches from Paige's hand, their hands touched.

Paige saw that Phoebe had been pulled into a premonition. Paige was suddenly worried that Phoebe might be finding out about her secret. The secret referring to Leo, not the sister secret. Paige would not mind if Phoebe found that out via a premonition. There was no way the Elders would be able to see Phoebe's premonition.

Phoebe's premonition ended. She looked from the Relinquishment spell in her hand to Paige and then to Prue.

'What was the premonition about, Pheebs?' said Prue.

'Paige and I had just projected ourselves into Piper's mind where some evil bad guy who I have never even heard of was trying to convince Piper that she was nuts and was not actually a witch and was just a human. He was trying to persuade her to say the Relinquishment spell so as we would lose our powers. Apparently we had destroyed the written copy of the spell but the bad guy knew that Piper would remember the words in her subconscious…'

'Phoebe, just burn it now,' said Prue. 'Whether that premonition ever comes true or not, we will be there to help Piper. We could also make sure that that never actually happens.'

Phoebe lit a match and allowed the page to burn.

'The strange thing was, Prue, that you were not there,' said Phoebe. 'I don't know where you were.'

'Something must have been keeping me back,' said Prue. 'I would always try to be there for you and Piper.'

'That was not the only strange thing,' said Phoebe. 'You know how all three of us had to say the spell for it to work, Prue?'

'Of course I do,' said Prue. 'Piper had to force you to join in with chanting the spell.'

'Well, in my premonition, the bad guy only needed Piper to say it to get all of our powers,' said Phoebe.

'Wow, that definitely was quite an inaccurate vision,' laughed Prue.

Phoebe nodded.

'Glad to know I am still helping you guys out in the future, whenever that takes place,' said Paige.

'Me too,' said Phoebe smiling. 'It definitely did seem like a hazy premonition though, considering all those errors, and then the fact that it seemed like the Relinquishment spell was going to affect you too, as if you were part of the Power of Three.'

Paige looked surprised and Phoebe obviously noticed Paige's expression as she added, 'I know. There are so many mistakes in that premonition that I don't believe one part of it.'

Prue laughed. 'Maybe it was just a side effect of temporarily losing your powers.'

'Maybe,' said Phoebe.

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige left the attic together. As they went downstairs, Phoebe started saying to Prue, 'So if I ever get arrested, will you and Piper help break me out?'

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so maybe that last line was a reference to a specific season two episode, but the vision was obviously a season four reference, and the storyline was season one, so quite a few mixed in there. Please review!


	20. Feats of Clay(And Tales of Sleep Orbing)

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews! Prue and Phoebe will find out… at some point. :) You will have to keep reading to find out when. Paige finding out about being part white lighter is still a little bit further down the line. As to the fate of Prue, this is still season one, so you will have to wait until I get to season three – if I ever do – to find the answer to that question out. Andy's fate is closer at the moment, and I am not saying anything about my decision on that.

So as you may have noticed, over the last few chapters, Paige has either been highly irritable or very stressed, yet at the beginning of this fan fiction, I had mentioned that Paige used meditation (which Leo had taught her) to keep calm. Well, the fact that she has not been meditating and instead has been through a lot with the Halliwells all leads up to her new problem in this chapter. Enjoy! Oh and please review!

Also, just a warning: although it is only implied and not described (I would never actually write a description of such actions), Phoebe and Clay do get up to some boyfriend-girlfriend stuff in this chapter. Although I only hint at what they are up to, I have to add this warning on to avoid any complaints.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Feats of Clay (And Tales of Sleep Orbing)**

Paige tossed and turned on the attic sofa. Her eyes were shut tight but she could not sleep.

Paige did not like the secret she was keeping from two of her sisters, the fact that she was their sister (well, half, but still the point was that she was related). There was also the fact that Paige missed Wilson more than ever now. Piper had Leo; Phoebe had her (no longer an ex-) boyfriend Clay staying over; and Prue, well, she had Andy, even if their relationship was currently detached. The point was that Paige wanted to talk to Wilson, to know that he was safe. She missed him dearly.

Paige suddenly felt very chilly. She held her hand out to pull her cover over her. However she could not find the cover. The surface of the sofa felt cold and metallic too. Paige sat bolt upright and opened her eyes.

'This isn't the attic,' she muttered to herself.

Paige was very high up on the beam of a bridge. Paige looked over the edge and could see the horizon of the South Bay area of San Francisco. She was on top of the Golden Gate Bridge.

'How did I get here?' Paige thought. She was tired and scared and extremely cold.

It was either the work of a demon or warlock, or a spell that had gone wrong. Either that or Paige's undiscovered witch power could be teleportation. She highly doubted that though. She doubted she would ever have an active power.

Paige was only wearing her pyjamas. It was a cold, miserable evening and her feet were bare against the cold metal of the beam. She could see her breath in the air in front of her.

Paige thought through her options. She could see if she could get someone from far below to spot her up on the beam – that would involve getting the whole bridge closed off to be rescued by the authorities, followed by awkward questions as to how she got up there.

Another choice Paige could make was to call for Leo, but she did not want to ask for his help. After their last talk, she had felt that Leo was expecting her to succeed at proving herself to the Elders. Therefore, Paige could not let Leo down by needing his help so soon, especially when it concerned herself and not the Halliwells.

Paige also had the option of phoning her sisters. Then she realised she did not keep her phone in her pyjama pockets. She always left it on the table in the attic while she went to sleep as she never expected to leave the attic mid-sleep.

Paige was out of options.

Shivering Paige sat down on the beam and tried to remain warm. Paige closed her eyes, trying to think of what to do. Paige was trying hard to stay conscious in the cold air.

Paige suddenly felt herself fall. At first she thought she had fallen off the edge of the beam even though she had been sat nowhere near the edge. However, she quickly felt her head connect with the wooden floor of the attic. Paige opened her eyes, stood up, and rubbed her head. She was back in the attic.

Had her travels to the Golden Gate Bridge been a dream?

The attic door burst open to reveal Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Clay.

'Is everything okay, Paige?' said Prue. 'We heard a crash.'

'It woke us up,' said Piper. 'What happened? Are you alright?'

'It didn't wake us up,' said Phoebe blushing, referring to herself and Clay.

Phoebe was holding her dressing gown tight around herself. Clay was hurriedly putting his shirt back on.

'It's okay,' said Paige. 'I just tossed and turned a bit too much on the sofa and fell off.'

'Paige, we are getting you a proper bed and mattress up here,' said Piper. 'I won't take no for an answer this time. You and I will go bed shopping tomorrow. No arguments.'

Paige smiled. After a couple more reassurances, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Clay left, wishing Paige good night.

Yes, she had just lied to them, but as she was not one hundred percent certain about what had happened, the tossing and turning reason may be true as she may or may not have been dreaming. Plus Paige did not mind having to spend the day with Piper. As Piper was the only one who knew her family connection, Paige felt the closest to her and was happy being able to talk freely with Piper.

Paige closed her eyes, hoping that she would be able to sleep without interruption for the rest of the night.

'Shush Clay! We don't want to wake the others,' Phoebe was giggling.

'Phoebe, you never used to worry about the neighbours in New York hearing,' said Clay.

'That's different. They were not my sisters. They were complete strangers,' said Phoebe.

Paige had not opened her eyes but she could hear Phoebe and Clay as if they were in the attic with her.

'So you would rather strangers listen than your sisters hear?' laughed Clay.

'I would rather not hear at all,' Paige grumbled to herself.

'Paige!' shouted Phoebe in surprise.

Paige opened her eyes. She was not lying on the attic sofa. She was lying on the soft carpeted floor of Phoebe's room.

Paige jumped up in shock. Phoebe and Clay were lying under their sheets on Phoebe's bed staring at Paige.

'How did you get in here?' asked Phoebe.

'I think the question is: Why are you in here?' said Clay.

'I don't know the answer to either of those,' said Paige. She ran to the bedroom door and left as fast as she could.

Sitting back on the comfort of the attic sofa, Paige could not bring herself to close her eyes. She was tired but she did not want to go to sleep. Somehow she had found herself on the Golden Gate Bridge, and just now she had found herself in Phoebe's room. Where would she find herself next if she fell asleep?

Paige must have dozed off because the next thing she became aware of was Wilson's voice.

'Paige! Paige, what are you doing here?'

Paige opened her eyes and stood up. She was in the underworld. Wilson was staring at her, looking worried.

'Wilson!' Paige said. She embraced him. 'I must be dreaming!'

'That's exactly what I was thinking,' said Wilson. 'It is too dangerous for you to be here, Paige. How did you get here?'

'So I am not dreaming?' asked Paige. She hugged Wilson tighter. He was real and they were together again. 'Did you see how I got here?'

'No, this is real. And no, I turned round and saw you sitting there with your eyes closed,' said Wilson. 'Did Leo send you here? Or have you been making teleportation potions with Isobel again?'

Paige shook her head. 'I don't care how I got here. I am with you again. That is all that matters!'

Wilson did not smile. 'Paige, it is dangerous down here. There are demons everywhere I turn. Plus you are not magical, you are so vulnerable.'

Paige grinned. 'Seeing you is worth the danger.' Then she added, 'Wilson, I have so much to tell you! I am a witch!'

Wilson put his finger to Paige's lips. 'Don't go using the W word down here! There are demons about.'

Paige took Wilson's hand and squeezed it. 'I have missed you so much.'

'Paige, you have to leave. It's not safe,' said Wilson. 'My research colleagues and assistants have all just gone to search for some supplies while I am manning the base.'

'Then we can have some time alone together,' said Paige.

Wilson knew that Paige could be quite stubborn and was therefore difficult to argue with. He led her into the safety of a tent that Paige had not noticed before.

'This tent is charmed,' explained Wilson. 'You can only see it if you know it is there. That way if a demon wanders past they will not see it unless someone tells them our tent is here.'

Paige nodded.

'So you are a witch?' Wilson said smiling.

Paige explained everything that had happened, including the news about who her real family were.

'This just helps my case,' said Wilson after Paige had finished.

'Your case?' Paige asked.

'Yes, my case that you should leave,' said Wilson. 'Your sisters can't lose you, even if only one of the three of them know you are their sister. I cannot let you stay down here.'

'Wilson, I don't know how I got here, so I don't know how to leave,' said Paige. 'I don't care though because I have not seen you in so long. I would rather be stranded down here with you than not see you for a whole year.'

Paige lay down next to Wilson on top of his sleeping bag. Wilson brushed Paige's hair out of her eyes and held her close. Paige closed her eyes. She could feel Wilson's chest move up and down against her cheek. She had missed Wilson.

* * *

'Paige. Wake up.' It was a woman's voice, specifically Piper's voice. What was she doing in the underworld?

Paige opened her eyes. She was in the attic and had been fast asleep on the wooden floor. Piper was standing at the door with a tray of cooked breakfast in her hands.

'You seem pretty attached to that floor today,' joked Piper.

Piper helped Paige to her feet and they sat next to each other on the attic sofa. Piper handed Paige the tray.

'Thanks. I don't know what's happening to me,' said Paige.

Piper looked at Paige seriously.

'Is there a magical reason why you fell onto the floor last night?' asked Piper.

'I thought it had just been a dream, but then more of the same sort of thing happened throughout the night…' said Paige.

'What do you mean?' asked Piper.

'Has Phoebe mentioned anything to you about last night yet?' said Paige blushing.

'Does she need to?' asked Piper looking disgusted suddenly. 'I could hear enough things that I did not want to hear last night coming from her room.'

'Well, I kind of had the unintentional chance to hear it all from within her room,' said Paige going red in the face.

Piper was speechless. Paige explained, starting with the Golden Gate Bridge through to finding herself in Phoebe's room and then to seeing Wilson before mentioning how she woke up on the attic floor with Piper standing at the door.

Piper listened to it all without interruption.

When Paige had finished, Piper asked, 'Have you checked the Book yet?'

'Piper, what did my explanation of events finish with?' said Paige, rolling her eyes.

'You waking up back on the attic floor with me standing by the door… Oh, I see,' said Piper understanding.

'So you see how I could not have possibly had a chance to check the Book yet,' laughed Paige.

Piper nodded. 'Why do you think this kept happening every time you fell asleep?'

Paige shrugged. 'Maybe it is being caused by stress, anxieties, worry.'

'Paige, what do you have to be stressed about?' asked Piper.

'Oh just the fact that I miss my boyfriend, I am lying to two of my sisters, and other things that you don't need to know about…'

'Paige,' said Piper.

Paige stuffed some egg into her mouth so as Piper could not force Paige to continue to talk. Talking with one's mouth full is just plain rude.

Paige finished the plate of breakfast while Piper remained sitting beside her.

'Thanks, Piper. You did not have to make this for me,' said Paige.

'I did,' said Piper. 'I feel really bad. I said I would go bed shopping with you, but I have to go to work.'

'I don't mind,' said Paige. 'You now know that the sofa did not cause me to fall to the floor, so there is no reason to. Also I can keep you company at work.'

Piper shrugged. 'Why not? Prue's going to be there too. She starts work a little later than normal today while the new boss there gets acquainted with the offices.'

'They have found a replacement for Rex already?' Paige asked.

'Apparently,' said Piper. 'Let's just hope they are not another warlock.'

'Instead they will probably be a demon or a dark lighter,' laughed Paige. 'Or worse…'

'What could be worse?' asked Piper.

'A really arrogant idiot like Martin,' said Paige.

Piper laughed.

'If Rex ever comes back, he can replace Martin any day,' Piper joked.

* * *

Prue and Paige were sitting at the bar while Piper stood behind it. Prue and Piper had been discussing Phoebe and Clay for a while. In between their conversation, Piper had frozen the restaurant a couple of times to stop a continuously clumsy love-sick waiter from breaking too many plates and glasses (and to stop him making a fool of himself). Prue and Piper had just started to talk about Prue's job at Bucklands when Paige's eyes began to close.

Prue stopped talking. She tapped Paige on the shoulder and Paige opened her eyes.

'Yes..?' said Paige.

'Did you not get enough sleep last night?' asked Prue.

Paige did not know what to say. She had had sleep even with the events that had occurred that night. However she still felt extremely drained and fatigued this morning.

Piper and Paige exchanged glances. The expression on Piper's face urged Paige to explain the night's events to Prue. Paige told Prue about her mid-slumber travel adventures that happened the night before.

'Have you checked the Book?' asked Prue.

'Is that phrase in the Halliwell-English dictionary?' said Paige laughing. 'Maybe I should purchase one of those. I hear the Halliwell-English dictionary also comes with descriptions of 'Cliff Notes Version', 'Nancy Drew', and 'Kill it before it dies'. I wonder if there are any copies still available. Apparently it's been going down like a flame in the underworld. The demons just can't get enough of it.'

Prue rolled her eyes at Paige's mockery. Piper was looking around the restaurant hoping no one had been close enough to hear Paige say 'underworld' or 'demons'.

'Paige, just try to stay awake until we have checked the Book,' said Prue standing up. 'I don't want to come home from work to find out that you somehow found yourself in the middle of a desert or in a volcano or on the very edge of a cliff.'

Paige nodded.

'I better get to work,' said Prue. 'I don't want to be late on the first day of meeting my new boss. First impressions and all.'

As Prue left, Piper said to Paige, 'Paige, we can leave when my shift ends. I cannot let you go home by yourself. We will go back and check the Book then, yeah?'

Paige nodded, letting out a huge yawn. Paige rested her head on the bar.

'I need sleep,' she moaned.

'Paige, try to stay awake,' said Piper.

Piper handed Paige a steaming cup of fresh coffee.

Paige took a sip. 'Is this decaff?' she joked.

* * *

Piper was busy serving customers behind the bar. Paige had finished her coffee and had her head back in her arms on the bar. The caffeine in the coffee had not helped to fight off her tiredness one bit. Every now and then there would be a sudden silence in the restaurant where Piper had frozen everything to sort out whatever mess Doug the waiter had accidentally made.

Paige heard the phone behind the bar ring. Piper picked it up and turned her back to Paige. Paige's eyes closed as she listened to Piper speak on the phone.

'Hi Prue. I am kind of busy right now. Can we talk another time?'

There was a pause.

'Oh, okay. I see.'

There was another long pause while Prue was explaining something to Piper from the other end of the phone.

All of a sudden, a lot happened at once. The noises of the restaurant disappeared and were replaced with the hum of computers. The bar that Paige had been leaning on disappeared and so did the bar stool she had been sitting on, so Paige fell forward onto the floor. Also, Paige could suddenly hear Prue speaking.

Paige opened her eyes. She was in the corridor of Bucklands. She stood up. She must have drifted off for a split second for this to have happened. Paige rubbed her chin. It was aching from where she had fallen onto the floor.

Paige walked along the corridor and poked her head into Prue's office.

'What am I supposed to think, Piper? Phoebe's ex pops…' Prue stopped speaking into the phone when she spotted Paige at her doorway. 'Piper, were you supposed to be keeping an eye on Paige?'

Prue moved the phone away from her ear slightly as Piper's reply when she realised Paige was gone must have been quite loud and high pitched.

'Don't worry, Piper. I only asked you because she is standing right here in my office,' said Prue. 'She's safe. I will talk to you more later, Piper.'

Prue put the phone down.

'Would you like to come in, Paige?' said Prue. 'Or were you planning on standing by the door all day?'

Paige entered Prue's office and took a seat.

'Well, at least I did not end up in a volcano,' said Paige smiling.

'Paige, lie down on the chairs over there,' said Prue.

'You and Piper told me not to sleep until we know what's going on,' said Paige.

'Yes, but that obviously is not possible,' said Prue. 'If I see what exactly happens when you fall asleep though, that may help.'

Paige shrugged. She moved a couple of chairs around so as she could lie down on them. They were less comfortable than her attic sofa but at least she could try to sleep now with the knowledge that her sister was watching over her. She closed her eyes.

'Prue, is Bucklands some sort of hotel to you?' said a voice that Paige did not recognise.

Paige opened her eyes to see a woman standing at Prue's door, looking from Prue to Paige and back to Prue.

'Claire, I'm sorry,' said Prue. 'This is…'

'Prue, is she a client?' asked Claire.

'No,' said Prue. 'She…'

'Prue, this is work and you are supposed to be organising the auction for tomorrow,' said Claire.

'Yes, Claire. I am. She just popped in…'

'For a nap? This is a workplace, not a hotel,' said Claire.

'Yes, Claire,' said Prue.

Claire left the office.

'She seemed nice,' said Paige sarcastically. Paige got up.

'She's my new boss,' said Prue. 'Where are you going?'

'I can't stay here,' said Paige. 'Your new Rex basically just told you to kick me out. I cannot let you lose your job over me.'

'How are you going to get back to the manor?' asked Prue.

'I can get a bus,' said Paige yawning.

'What if you fall asleep on the bus?' asked Prue.

Paige tried to come up with a good reply. She could not think of one though.

'Exactly,' said Prue. 'Look, to help you stay awake and stop Claire from moaning, can you try and order these documents alphabetically for me. That takes one task out of a million off my to do list for tomorrow.'

Prue squinted at her office door and it shut. 'At least now we will have a head start. If you see that door open: duck beneath my desk.'

Paige nodded.

'On a scale of Rex to Martin, where would you rate Claire?' laughed Paige.

Prue rolled her eyes and continued to do her work.

Paige found it hard to remain awake throughout the day, but every time she was about to drift off, Prue would tap Paige's shoulder or call her name to bring her back from the land of sleep.

At around five o'clock, there was a knock on Prue's office door. Paige hid beneath Prue's desk.

'Piper,' she heard Prue exclaim. Paige peaked up from beneath Prue's desk to see Piper walking into the office.

'Hi. I just finished my shift,' said Piper. 'I thought I would take Paige back so we can get started on looking through the Book of Shadows.'

'That's fine with me,' said Prue. 'I am going to be here quite late tonight with the auction that I have to arrange for tomorrow.'

Paige left Bucklands with Piper.

* * *

Half an hour later, Piper and Paige were in the attic looking through the Book of Shadows. They had not come across anything that could explain what was happening to Paige yet.

The two sisters stopped when they came across a few pages dedicated to charms. On the same page were two charms. Each was of interest to each of the sisters.

'That would be perfect for Doug,' said Piper, pointing at the confidence charm.

'I will help you make the confidence charm for Doug, if you help me make this one,' said Paige, pointing at the other recipe on the page.

* * *

**A/N: **Any ideas as to what the charm Paige wants Piper to help her make is? You probably don't, unless you are reading this chapter and the next chapter is already up. I have a feeling the next chapter's title will give the charm away. My titles are so unimaginative like that. Also, I am trying to not make Paige's sleep orbing issues too similar to Prue's astral/sleep issues in season three episode fifteen. Just an added note, Paige does not know she is orbing in her sleep, and she won't figure that out. I don't plan on her finding out about her white lighter half until closer to the end of the first season.


	21. Feats of Clay (And The SD Charm)

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One: Feats of Clay (And The Sleep Dispossession Charm)**

'A Sleep Dispossession Charm?' Piper read. She frowned. 'Paige, that sounds very dangerous.'

'What's more dangerous? Me remaining awake until we figure out what's going on or me waking up in the middle of a demon's lair?'

'When you put it like that…' said Piper.

Paige nodded. 'Precisely, Piper. I do not care about the personal gain consequences of using the charm. I just know that I cannot help the three of you with your problems if I am either asleep or who knows where.'

'Fine,' said Piper. 'Maybe we should speak to Prue and Phoebe first, though.'

'Were you going to talk to them about your confidence charm for Doug first?' asked Paige, knowing the answer.

'No, but that's different,' said Piper.

'No it's not,' said Paige. 'I can only be alert enough to help you make the charm for Doug if you help me with this 'Sleep Dispossession' charm first.'

Reluctantly, Piper agreed.

Piper and Paige got the ingredients together and put them into a bowl. Piper began to crush the herbs while Paige set up some candles.

After ten minutes they were ready.

'Okay, the Book says that you need to sit in the middle of the circle of candles and sprinkle some of this over yourself as you chant the words of the charm,' said Piper.

Paige sat in the middle of the circle of candles. Piper lit the candles and passed Paige the bowl. Paige took a handful from the bowl and started to sprinkle it over herself.

Piper held the Book up for Paige to read while doing this.

'_Sleep I no longer want,_

_Find another being to haunt,_

_Sleep I now dispossess,_

_Now I no longer need to rest._'

Paige finished. Her head felt cloudy at first and her head lolled.

'Paige?' said Piper worried.

Suddenly the cloudiness cleared and Paige whipped her head back up. Paige felt no ounce of tiredness. She stood up and left the circle, jumping up and down. She was full of energy.

'Right, Piper. Now onto the charm for Dougy!' said Paige gleefully.

'Are you okay, Paige?' asked Piper.

'Of course I am! I feel like I can do anything!' said Paige.

'That's the charm taking effect, I guess,' said Piper.

Paige nodded extremely fast.

Piper and Paige worked together to get the confidence charm sorted. Paige was extremely energetic and lively that she accidentally put too much of some of the ingredients in. Piper had already doubled the required ingredients, so the explosion consumed the room.

'Oh well, that will just make him extra super-duper confident,' said Paige as the smoke cleared.

Piper and Paige were coughing as Prue and Phoebe ran into the attic.

Piper explained about the confidence charm on Doug which was followed by not-so-subtle hints from Prue about Phoebe and Clay's relationship.

Prue and Phoebe had noticed Paige fidgeting next to Piper during the whole of this conversation.

'Are you okay, Paige?' asked Phoebe.

'Never been more awake in my life,' said Paige. 'Why?'

'Prue told me about your sleep problems,' said Phoebe. 'You do not seem quite anywhere near as tired as Prue suggested.'

'That's because before we did the confidence charm on Doug, we did a 'Sleep Dispossession' charm on me.'

''Sleep _Dispossession_'? That sounds dangerous,' said Prue grimacing. 'Piper, why did you let her do this?'

'I…' began Piper but Paige cut in.

'I did not give her much of an option,' said Paige. 'This means we can find out what is wrong with me before I next need to sleep.'

'So what do you expect to do all night then?' asked Phoebe.

'Well, I was going to research through the Book but I have far too much energy to just sit around and do that,' said Paige. 'Researching never gets me anywhere anyway so it does not matter if I don't do that.'

'Then what was your plan of action?' asked Phoebe.

Paige shrugged. 'I will see where my newly alert mind takes me.'

'Wow, Paige, how can you be so much like Phoebe without being related?' laughed Prue. 'You act before you think.'

'If only you knew,' smiled Paige.

'What's that supposed to mean?' asked Phoebe.

'Let's go to bed,' said Piper, pushing Prue and Phoebe out of the attic to save Paige from having to explain herself.

Piper returned a few minutes later to moan at Paige.

'Paige, you almost let them find out,' said Piper. 'I am absolutely fine if you want to tell them, but not while you are under a charm because you do not seem yourself at all right now.'

Paige nodded cheerfully.

'Good night, Paige,' said Piper.

'Good night to you, not to me,' said Paige. 'I am not going to sleep.'

'Good night, Paige,' repeated Piper as she left the attic. Piper was obviously fretting about how the charm had affected Paige.

* * *

'Paige, what are you doing here?'

Paige looked up from Prue's desk to see Prue standing at her office door.

'Hey Prue,' said Paige. 'I got bored at the manor and noticed you still had the keys for Bucklands from when you were working for Rex so I decided to come here in the early hours and make sure everything was prepared for the auction today.'

'Paige, what happened to trying to figure out your sleep problem?' asked Prue.

Paige shrugged. 'I don't have to worry about it now that I never have to sleep again.'

'Paige, we are not going to keep that charm on you forever,' said Prue. 'I was hoping we could have it lifted pretty soon. You don't seem yourself.'

'Not having to sleep has removed a lot of my worries,' said Paige.

'So what were you doing in the manor before you got bored?' asked Prue.

'Well, I spent a few hours coming up with a plan as to how to get you and Andy back together,' said Paige.

'What?' said Prue astounded. 'Paige, I told you to keep out of my relationship troubles.'

'I have not done anything… yet,' said Paige innocently. 'I only came up with a theory. Want to hear it?'

Prue shook her head. 'I would rather not. You will not be putting it into action whatever it is. Andy and I will work something out without your help. Is that all you did before you came to Bucklands?'

Paige shook her head swiftly. 'No. After that I tried to make some potions so as the three of you could have a good supply ready next time you need to vanquish a demon.'

'Were you successful?' asked Prue.

'Nope,' laughed Paige. 'Although Isobel and I often work together to make potions, by myself I am no good. In my failed attempts to make potions I managed to melt a few bowls.'

'With you doing all of that last night, I cannot believe you did not wake one of us up. We did not even wake up when you left the manor,' said Prue.

Paige shrugged.

Paige stood up, freeing up Prue's desk chair, in case she wanted to sit down at her desk.

'I am not staying in my office right now,' said Prue. 'I only came to pick up the final copy of the catalogue. I need to get it photocopied…'

'I did that already,' said Paige. 'Five hundred copies freshly printed.'

'We only needed two hundred, Paige,' laughed Prue. 'This place is close to bankruptcy. We cannot afford to lose money on reprographics.'

'Oops, oh well,' said Paige positively. 'At least you don't have to get that done now. The catalogues are all set out in the auction room. What do you need to do now?'

'Well, I need to go to the auction room to make sure the items are arranged correctly, and basically make sure there are no issues anywhere,' said Prue.

'I'll come with,' said Paige.

'Claire did not like you being here yesterday,' said Prue.

'I doubt Claire likes many things,' said Paige. 'Martin does not like Piper talking to you, Phoebe, and me at Quake, but that still happens.'

'This is different,' said Prue.

'I think that is a new phrase that needs adding to the Halliwell-English dictionary,' said Paige. 'I have had you and Piper both say that to me in the last twelve hours.'

Prue gave up and let Paige accompany her into the auction room. Prue felt too tired to argue with Paige.

Prue and Paige entered the auction room. Claire was already in there with the auctioneer. She saw Prue enter and picked up a catalogue.

'Prue, why are there three hundred extra catalogues?' asked Claire.

'There was a slight administration error in the photocopy room,' lied Prue.

'Really, Prue. I thought you were the only person really invested in saving this train wreck of an auction house from complete bankruptcy,' said Claire, before wandering over to the auctioneer to moan at him about something or another.

Paige turned to Prue and muttered, 'She is totally a Martin clone.'

Prue looked completely embarrassed at this. Claire had turned around and come back over to Prue and Paige.

'Paige!' hissed Prue. 'Why did you have so say that so loudly?'

Paige realised that maybe her mutter may have been more like a shout.

'Excuse me, Miss?' said Claire angrily. She was waiting for an explanation from Paige.

Paige grinned and shrugged. 'Nothing. I was just comparing bosses, Claire.'

'This Martin you mentioned is your boss?' said Claire. She still looked angry.

'Nope, I don't have a boss, I have no job,' said Paige. 'Martin is one of Prue's sisters' bosses.'

Still fuming, Claire continued, 'And what makes me a clone?'

'Ignore her, Claire,' said Prue. 'She does not know what she is talking about. She did not get enough sleep last night. She is a little over tired.'

'No, I am not, Prue,' said Paige. 'I have dispossessed sleep, remember?'

'Claire, don't worry, Paige is leaving now,' said Prue, trying to save her position at Bucklands and not let Paige expose their secret. 'Just ignore her words. You know how strange a person can become when they are so tired.'

Prue pushed Paige out of the auction room and stood in the corridor with her.

'Paige!' hissed Prue.

'What did I do?' smiled Paige.

'Paige, what has this charm done to you?' asked Prue. 'I can understand the not having to sleep part, but why has it made you so careless? And I do not get why the removal of sleep has made you so extra positive.'

Paige shrugged. 'Maybe they are side effects.'

Prue shook her head. 'You are going back to the manor now. How did you get here?'

'I walked,' said Paige.

'You walked? In the dark, cold night?' said Prue.

'I told you, this charm has given me a lot of energy,' Paige said grinning.

'I am going to call Phoebe and tell her to get your car and pick you up to take you back,' said Prue.

Prue phoned the manor but there was no reply.

'Hmm…' said Prue. 'Maybe they are at Quake.'

Prue phoned Quake. There was no reply.

'Piper should be at Quake,' said Prue. 'Even if she was not, there should be someone there to pick up the phone.'

Paige shrugged.

Prue phoned Quake again. There was no reply. She tried this again a couple of times before someone picked up.

'Hi, is Piper there?' asked Prue.

There was a pause while Prue listened to the person's reply.

Paige could hear loud music from where she stood.

'Thank you,' said Prue. 'Bye.'

Prue hung up and put her phone in her bag.

'Is Piper there?' asked Paige.

'No, her shift does not start until later,' said Prue. 'I think that was Doug on the phone. It sounded like he had some loud music going on in the restaurant and a lot of customers.'

'You think the confidence charm worked?' said Paige.

Prue nodded.

Prue tried Piper and Phoebe's own phones. Neither of them picked up.

'This could be bad,' said Prue. 'They could have been attacked by demons.'

'Or they could have just left their phones at the manor,' said Paige.

'A demon attack is more likely,' said Prue.

'This is Phoebe we are talking about,' said Paige. 'It's more likely she just forgot to pick her phone up.'

'Yes, but we are also talking about Piper,' said Prue. 'She is nothing like Phoebe when it comes to that sort of thing.'

'Unless she is on her way to Quake right now,' said Paige. 'When she goes there she does not take her phone because she knows you can contact her by the Quake phone.'

Prue shook her head. 'How can you think so clearly without worry?'

'The charm,' grinned Paige. 'No sleep issues, care free, worry free, able to think clearly without doubts forming in my mind.'

Prue sighed. 'You may feel wide awake, but I feel so tired. I might go for a lie down in my office. I know I told Claire I was getting rid of you, but could you hang around in this corridor and make sure that Claire does not come up to my office?'

Paige nodded. Prue began to walk away, but collapsed to the ground before she had moved far.

'Prue!' shouted Paige. Paige felt strange. She had just seen her sister collapse, but she felt no worry for Prue's well-being, only surprise at what had just occurred.

'Prue, get up!' said Paige as she knelt down to the level of Prue's unconscious body.

Prue was breathing. She appeared to be sleeping.

'Prue!' said Paige.

Paige took Prue's phone from her bag and dialled Quake.

'Hi, is Piper there yet?' Paige asked as soon as the ringing stopped.

'No,' said Doug. 'She is late for her shift, but I don't mind. I can manage this by myself. I better go, I have customers waiting.'

Doug hung up.

Paige could not let Claire see Prue like this in the corridor. Paige began to drag Prue along the floor. She would hide her in the nearest office for now. Not-so-surprisingly (due to the charm), Paige did not find moving Prue's body tiring at all.

Paige left Prue asleep on the floor of the first office she found and closed the door behind her.

Paige returned to the auction room.

'Why are you still here?' said Claire, on seeing Paige enter. 'And where is Prue?'

'Prue had a phone call just now from a very important client who may want to add a last minute item to the catalogue for today's auction. The piece may be priceless so Prue has rushed over to the other side of San Francisco to value it. She may not be back until the last few minutes of the auction,' improvised Paige. 'I am going to be helping out here to make sure everything is set up for the auction.'

'What's your name?' asked Claire.

'Paige Halliwell,' Paige said carelessly. She did not have time to go back on what she said before Claire replied.

'You are a relation of Prue's?' asked Claire.

'Yeah,' said Paige. 'Sister, in fact.'

Claire returned to her original point of asking Paige's name. 'Well, Paige, if Prue is not back with this said priceless artefact before this auction is over, make sure to let her know that she no longer works at Bucklands.' Claire was about to walk away, but then she added, 'Paige, you may stay to help set up, but only because I am low on people. You will not be paid, and I do not expect to see you in Bucklands in future.'

'Definitely a Martin clone,' Paige thought as she nodded to show she understood the instructions.

* * *

Over the next few hours Paige worked in the auction room, making sure every item was in place with a lot number assigned to it. While doing this, Paige noticed the urn. She had recalled Prue and Phoebe discussing – or should she say arguing about – it the night before. It was something Clay had bought – or was the right word stolen – from Egypt.

Paige put the urn down as lot number fifty one and then went onto the next item which was some sort of painting.

Every fifteen minutes or so, Paige had been wandering back to the office to see whether Prue had woken up. Prue was still sound asleep every time. Paige could only do this when Claire was not looking, and Paige had not had a chance to phone Quake to see if Piper was there. Paige could not go back to the manor to get the Book because she could not leave Prue alone in Bucklands in case someone (especially Claire) found her asleep on the floor of an office.

Soon the auction was up and running. The room was filled with buyers and the auctioneer was up to lot forty five.

'Paige.' Paige turned around to see Claire beckoning her to the door of the auction room door. 'Paige, I am about to get a fax through consisting of the appraisal of lot fifty one: the urn. Can you go to my office and retrieve the fax when it comes?'

Paige nodded. 'Which one is your office?'

'The first office you find to your right when you leave the auction room,' said Claire. 'I have not been there since this morning, but it is unlocked.'

Paige left the auction room in silent fits of laughter. That meant that the office Paige had hid Prue in was Claire's office. She was so lucky that, one: Claire had not set foot in there since the auction set up had begun; and that, two: Claire had sent Paige to obtain the appraisal fax from Claire's office rather than going to get it herself.

Paige entered Claire's office and checked on Prue. Prue was still sound asleep. Paige took Prue's phone and dialled Quake's number.

'Hello?' It was Doug again.

'Is Piper not there yet?' said Paige.

'No, but it does not matter. I am doing fine on my own,' said Doug. 'I have customers to serve. I will get her to phone you back when she gets here.'

Doug hung up on Paige.

Paige put the phone back in Prue's bag. The fax machine had started to hum, and then some paper came out of it.

Paige looked at the document. A lot of the terminology on it was too boring to read but one word did catch her eye: 'Stolen'.

'This cannot be good for Prue's job,' said Paige. Then she remembered that this stolen piece was about to be auctioned off too.

Paige returned to the auction room, ready to stop the sale of the urn. However, a commotion had taken place. The auctioneer was asleep on his podium. The auctioneer's assistant was lying on the ground, by the table of items, fast asleep. Claire was asleep on the ground by the auction room door. Some of the buyers were trying to wake Claire, the auctioneer, and his assistant up, while the other buyers were sitting around murmuring to each other about what had happened.

Paige ran past the bewildered buyers and removed the urn from the table. She headed for the door.

'You cannot do that! That's stealing!' said one of the buyers.

'I work here,' lied Paige. 'Plus this is already stolen!' There was that careless manner again that made her say more than she should have.

As Paige made her way along the corridor, security staff ran past her into the auction room.

Paige walked into Claire's office with it. Paige knelt down on the floor by Prue's sleeping body.

'Prue, you are not the only one asleep now,' said Paige. 'I wonder if you would figure out what was going on if you were conscious right now.'

* * *

**A/N:** Can you figure out what's going on? Please review.


	22. Feats of Clay (And Sleeping Beauty)

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews! Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two: Feats of Clay (And Sleeping Beauty)**

Paige heard Claire's office door open and close. She looked up to see a man staring at her.

'The auction room is a couple of doors that way,' said Paige. 'Although you might not want to go in there, the auction has temporarily gone on hold.'

'You must be one of the Halliwell sisters,' said the man.

'I am,' said Paige as she stood up. She realised the man was not a buyer.

'You must be Prue, Phoebe's sister that works at the auction house,' said the man.

Paige pointed at Prue's sleeping body. 'That's Prue.'

'Oh, so you are the other sister, Piper?' said the man.

Paige realised she had been careless again. 'Sure, why not.'

Paige laughed to herself. She always seemed to find herself in situations where she was impersonating Piper.

'So who are you?' said Paige.

'I am Clay's friend,' said the man. 'Put the urn back in the auction room. That way once the auction starts back up it can be sold.'

'I don't take orders,' said Paige.

'No, don't you understand,' said the man. He now looked anxious. 'You have to sell it before the curse…'

'Cool! There's a curse,' said Paige, looking the urn up and down. It was still in her hands.

'Yes, the urn is cursed,' said the man. 'Forget it, I will get rid of it myself.'

The man approached Paige in an attempt to take the urn back. Paige stepped backwards. She was not going to give him the urn.

'This is stolen property. It does not belong back with you whether it is cursed or not,' said Paige.

'Give it to me,' said the man.

'No,' said Paige.

Then she had an idea. 'I think the curse is already taking an effect. You must have seen the auction staff in the other room who had collapsed. You also see that Prue here has collapsed. It must be the work of the curse!'

'The curse. It's happening. It's too late,' said the man. 'I got to get out of here!'

The man left the office running.

Paige grinned. She knew the curse was not what had caused Prue, Claire, the auctioneer, and his assistant to collapse, but she was not too sure what had done it.

Paige staid in the office with Prue. She heard running feet in the corridor outside. It sounded like the security staff had taken control of the situation, and it also sounded like a replacement auctioneer had turned up because Paige could hear someone shouting out bid prices.

Prue's phone suddenly rang. Paige answered it hurriedly.

'Prue! What is it? What's wrong? Doug said you kept phoning all afternoon!' It was Piper.

'Hey Piper. It's Paige,' said Paige. 'Prue rang Doug the first couple of times but the rest of the time it was me. Where have you been all afternoon?'

'Phoebe and I went for a shop while we talked,' said Piper. 'I did not realise how late for my shift I was.'

'So Phoebe is with you now?' asked Paige.

'No. She just left to go and see Clay. Why? What's wrong?' said Piper.

'Well, Prue wanted to find out where Phoebe was earlier, so as Phoebe could take me home and get the charm taken off me,' said Paige. 'That's not the main problem now though.'

'What is it?' said Piper.

'Prue is asleep. I cannot wake her. Just an hour ago, half of the auction staff collapsed asleep too,' said Paige. 'I have no idea why.'

'Just the staff? Not the buyers too?' asked Piper.

'Yeah. Except not all the staff because the security staff are fine, and so is the replacement auctioneer,' said Paige.

'Hmm…' said Piper. 'So they are all asleep?'

'Yes. Quite typical for this to happen on a day when I am wide awake,' laughed Paige.

'Oh my gosh, Paige! That's it! How did we not see this coming?' said Piper.

'What? What do you mean? You don't think it has anything to do with my charm, do you?' said Paige.

'Yes! How long were you with Prue this morning before she collapsed?' said Piper.

'Er, maybe four hours,' said Paige.

'And the same question in regards to Claire and the auction staff before they fainted,' said Piper.

'Er, maybe the same amount of time…' said Paige. She could see where Piper might be going with this now.

'And do you remember one of the lines of the spell you had to say?' said Piper.

'I do now…' said Paige. _Find another being to haunt_. 'One of the lines said something about my sleep finding someone else to haunt… So basically what we are now realising is that whoever is in contact with me for too long will fall asleep right?'

'Yes,' said Piper. 'We need to remove the charm, Paige. That is possibly the only way to wake everyone up.'

'Then get to Bucklands now, Piper,' said Paige. 'I don't think I can sneak Prue out of here by myself.'

* * *

After an hour, Piper and Paige had Prue's sleeping body on the back seat of Piper's car.

'How did we even manage to get Prue out of there without anyone noticing?' laughed Paige.

'I don't think your shouting 'coast is clear, Pippy!' was very helpful at all,' said Piper.

'I thought it added to the atmosphere,' said Paige.

Piper shook her head. 'Paige, this charm has made you so careless.'

Paige shrugged.

* * *

After pulling onto the drive, Piper and Paige carried Prue into the manor. They released her onto the sofa in the living room.

'Paige, go get the Book of Shadows down here,' said Piper. 'I will find Phoebe.'

Paige retrieved the Book from the attic. As Paige came down the attic stairs, she saw Piper walking quickly away from Phoebe's room.

'What happened?' asked Paige.

Paige followed Piper as she continued down the stairs to the foyer and then into the living room.

'I did not realise Phoebe was in her room with Clay,' said Piper embarrassed. 'I just walked in on them…'

Paige laughed as she placed the Book of Shadows onto the coffee table.

'It's not funny, Paige!' said Piper.

Piper yawned.

'Oh no,' said Paige. 'You cannot spend too long with me or you will fall asleep!'

'Then we better get this charm removed soon,' said Piper.

They could hear Phoebe talking to Clay by the front door. She was telling him he did not have to leave, but he left anyway.

Piper and Paige heard the door shut and then Phoebe came into the living room. She had not noticed Prue on the sofa.

'This I can expect from Prue,' said Phoebe. 'She is the one who would normally barge into my room like that.'

'I am sorry, Pheebs,' said Piper.

'It's not just you, though,' said Phoebe, turning to Paige. 'You did it last night.'

'I could not control where I went,' said Paige. 'We don't even know why that was happening yet. Don't blame until you can explain.'

'That's the cheesiest rhyme I have ever heard,' laughed Phoebe.

'Paige, the clock's ticking,' said Piper.

'Right, do you want me to leave the room while you explain everything to Phoebe?' asked Paige.

'Why should you leave the room?' asked Phoebe. 'Shouldn't Prue be here too if this is witch business?'

'Prue is here, Phoebe,' said Piper.

Phoebe followed Piper's eyes to the sofa.

'Why is Prue asleep?' asked Phoebe.

Piper and Paige explained everything they knew.

'So let's take this charm off Paige so as Sleeping Beauty over there can wake up,' said Phoebe.

'You can't call her that,' said Paige. 'Firstly, Sleeping Beauty is sent into an enchanted sleep because she gets pricked by an enchanted spinning wheel. Even though the part about the witch causing it rains true to the fairytale as I am a witch. Secondly, Sleeping Beauty wakes up because her prince kisses her. Although I would love to get Andy over here to kiss Prue awake it looks like the most likely cure is removing the charm from me.'

Phoebe laughed. 'This charm has given you too much time to think.'

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige set up a circle of candles and crushed the correct spices into a fine powder. Paige sat in the middle of the circle of candles and Phoebe lit the candles. Piper held the Book up for Paige to read as she sprinkled the powder over herself.

'_Sleep I urge to return,_

_Sleep is now what I yearn._

_Day or night,_

_For sleep I will not fight._'

As soon as Paige had said this, she felt a weight return to her head. Her head suddenly throbbed and she felt like she could throw up any second.

'Paige, are you okay?' said Phoebe. 'You look ill.'

'I feel like I am going to be sick,' said Paige. 'Please can you extinguish those candles? The smell is making me woozy.'

Phoebe blew out the candles and helped Paige onto one of the armchairs.

'I feel like I have one of the biggest hangovers ever,' said Paige.

Phoebe handed Paige a glass of water.

'Is Prue awake yet?' asked Paige.

'She won't wake up,' said Piper hysterically.

Piper had been crouching by the sofa all this time trying to make Prue wake up.

'We removed the charm, Paige,' said Piper. 'Why is Prue not waking up?'

Phoebe was reading the charm page in the Book of Shadows.

'I don't know,' said Paige. 'I can't think. My head hurts too much.'

'I cannot find anything in the Book,' said Phoebe. 'All it says is the recipe and the reversal recipe.'

'That Book can be so unhelpful sometimes,' said Piper. Then she turned back to Prue. 'Wake up Prue!'

The phone rang. The noise blared through Paige's head. So much so that she almost blacked out.

'Hello?' Phoebe said into the phone. 'Yes, she is here.'

Phoebe put her hand over the receiver.

'Who is it?' asked Piper.

'It's Claire,' said Phoebe. 'You said the side effects of the charm had affected her, right?'

'So if Claire has woken up, then Prue should be awake,' said Paige.

'Prue!' Piper was shaking Prue's sleeping body now.

Phoebe handed the phone to Paige. 'Claire wants to speak to you.'

Slowly Paige took the phone from Phoebe's hand. Moving made Paige feel even queasier.

'Hello Claire,' said Paige weakly.

'Paige, did that fax about the urn come through?' said Claire.

'Yes it did. The urn was stolen so I made sure to take it out of the auction while the auction was temporarily stopped,' said Paige.

'No wonder the auction house is almost bankrupt,' said Claire. 'Selling stolen goods…'

'I am pretty sure that this is a rare event for the auction house,' said Paige. 'As rare as it is for you to sleep on the job.'

Claire's sudden silence made Paige laugh silently. She had stumped Claire.

'Make sure Prue is back at the office first thing tomorrow morning,' said Claire. 'We have to go over the intake from today's auction.'

'Er…' said Paige.

'You said Prue should be back by the end of the auction,' said Claire. 'Although I was absent I assume she reappeared with the valued item.'

'Of course,' lied Paige.

'So Prue will come into work tomorrow,' said Claire. She hung up.

Phoebe was staring at Paige.

'What?' said Paige.

'You said something about the urn being stolen?' said Phoebe.

'I did,' said Paige. 'Please don't shout at me because I do not think I could take the volume with this splitting headache that I currently have.'

'I won't shout,' said Phoebe. 'As long as you are not implying that Clay stole it.'

Piper and Paige went through a conversation with Phoebe regarding Clay's innocence and whether or not he had changed.

After Phoebe had left the room, Paige turned to Piper.

'Prue's job is in jeopardy if we do not wake her up now,' said Paige.

'How do we wake her though?' said Piper.

'I guess we always have the Power of Three between you, Phoebe, and me?' said Paige. 'I don't know how we could use that to wake Prue up though. I don't understand how the Power of Three works. Plus it would be weird trying to persuade Phoebe to say it without telling her about me.'

'Prue should be awake already though! Claire is awake! Why is Prue not awake?' said Piper.

'Not so loud, please,' said Paige, holding her throbbing head.

'Sorry,' said Piper. 'Looks like you have found the consequence for using a charm for personal gain.'

'I thought the side effects of the actual charm were consequence enough. Look at Prue!' said Paige. 'Besides the Elders do not even know that I am a witch! How can they not know that but still dish out consequences?'

* * *

An hour later, the doorbell rang. Piper had been spending the last hour in the kitchen trying to make a potion that could revive an unconscious person. However, Piper did not have one of the vital ingredients so the potion was not working so well. Phoebe, who had been upstairs all that time, answered the door.

Piper and Paige walked into the living room to see Phoebe and Andy standing by the sofa where Prue lay.

'Is Prue okay?' Andy asked.

'Phoebe,' hissed Piper, pulling Phoebe into the kitchen with Paige.

'What?' said Phoebe.

'Did you phone Andy?' said Piper.

'Yes,' said Phoebe. 'Nothing we did was bringing Prue back so I decided we may as well try out Paige's prince charming idea.'

'Phoebe, that was not an idea,' said Paige. 'It was an analogy.'

'So what, Paige? We are witches. Anything could work,' said Phoebe. 'I would try anything to get Prue back.'

'Stop talking as if Prue is dead!' shouted Piper in tears.

Andy walked into the kitchen followed by a conscious Prue.

'Prue!' shouted Piper and Phoebe.

They embraced her.

Paige stumbled at the raised level of voices, and slowly made her way over to Prue to join the hug. She could not go faster because of how ill she felt.

'What's going on?' said Prue.

'I would like to know that too,' said Andy.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige released Prue.

'Phoebe, what did you tell Andy on the phone?' asked Piper.

'Er…' said Phoebe.

'She told me to get here quickly because Prue needed me,' said Andy.

'Phoebe!' said Prue. Then Prue turned to Andy, and said, 'You hurried here just for me?'

Andy nodded while trying to hide a blush.

'What happened when we left you two in the living room just now?' asked Piper.

'You kissed Prue, didn't you?' smiled Phoebe.

'Phoebe!' shouted Prue, Piper, and Paige all at once.

'What? Paige, you know just as well as I do that Prue and Andy were made for each other!' said Phoebe. 'Why are you allowed to get away with meddling but I am not?'

Embarrassed Andy turned to Prue and said, 'I better go. I am supposed to be on duty right now.'

Prue nodded. 'Thanks for coming, Andy, even if I am not clear on what was going on.'

'Anytime,' said Andy.

Prue and Andy left the kitchen. A minute later, Paige heard the front door shut. Then Prue returned to the kitchen.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige explained everything to Prue, bringing her up to date.

'Okay,' said Prue. 'So we have got: auction house work, stolen urn, possible curse, and a confidence charm that needs removing. That's a lot to do.'

* * *

**A/N:** So maybe that was me having Prue summarise what is left to sort out from the original episode. I had to have some Prue/Andy togetherness in this chapter. Obviously as you know from the canon, Andy does see Prue in the episode anyway to quiz her about Palmer. Please review!


	23. Feats of Clay (Plus 'Squirrel')

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Three: Feats of Clay (Plus 'Squirrel!')**

Paige spent that evening sleeping as much as she could. Multiple times throughout the night she found herself in places other than the attic. She just kept closing her eyes, hoping to return to the attic. She felt too ill to explore or worry.

The next day, Prue went to work and Phoebe went to see Clay. Paige was still suffering the consequences of the 'Sleep Dispossession' charm so found it hard enough to get herself down to the kitchen that morning.

In the kitchen she found Piper working on a reversal for the confidence charm.

'You are getting rid of Doug's confidence?' said Paige.

Piper sighed. 'Charms just don't work out the way you expect them to.'

'I can second that,' said Paige. 'I can trust that he will not feel the wrath of having been charmed like I am though.'

'That's because he was the charmee and not the charmer,' said Piper.

'Gosh, for the Charmed Ones, we sure are putting 'charm' into a lot of our words these days,' laughed Paige. 'I think that should be another addition to the Halliwell-English dictionary.'

Piper laughed. A puff of smoke erupted from the bowl she had been working on the reversal for the charm in.

'Is that it? Is it reversed?' asked Paige.

'It should be,' said Piper.

Piper stood up and emptied the bowl's contents into the bin.

'That can't be environmentally friendly,' said Paige smiling.

'I need to head off to Quake now, Paige,' said Piper. 'Do you want to come with?'

'I don't think I could make it there without throwing up,' said Paige. 'I have to move so slowly at the moment.'

Piper nodded. 'Okay. I will see you later then. Get well soon.'

'Thanks,' said Paige as Piper left the manor.

Paige spent the rest of the day lying on the sofa in the living room. Around midday Phoebe returned.

'Hi Paige, how are you?' said Phoebe.

'Bleh,' said Paige, not wanting to speak anymore than one syllable.

'Aaww Paige,' said Phoebe. 'Do you want me to get you something from the chemist?'

'I have already tried a range of headache tablets from our medicine cabinet. Nothing works,' said Paige. 'I did not expect them to, considering magic likes to trump medicine most of the time.'

Paige had thought about the possibility of calling Leo to heal her, but his healing would not work because he could only heal those the Elders allowed him to heal. That would mean the Elders would have to find out about her being a witch and therefore Leo too, and then, the Elders would also realise that she was under the effects of a personal gain consequence so disallow it anyway.

'Do you at least want me to make you a sandwich?' said Phoebe. 'I am going to make myself one.'

'No thanks,' said Paige. 'Food makes me throw up at the moment.'

Phoebe laughed. 'You seem to say that about a lot of things at the moment.'

An hour or so later the doorbell rang. Paige could hear everything from her position on the sofa.

Paige heard Phoebe answer the door.

'Can I come in?' The voice was Clay's.

'No,' said Phoebe.

Clay started to talk to Phoebe about the urn. He told Phoebe how he knew nothing of the curse and wanted to get the urn back so he could turn it into the police himself.

'There's no way Prue's going to give it to me,' said Clay. 'Not without you.'

Paige rolled her eyes. She hoped Phoebe was not going to go along with this.

'I don't think so,' she heard Phoebe say.

'Please,' said Clay.

There was a pause. Paige slowly stuck her head up to see what was happening by the front door.

To Paige it looked like Phoebe was having a premonition. Phoebe came out of her premonition.

'The curse,' Phoebe said.

'What?' said Clay.

'Let's go,' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe!' shouted Paige weakly.

Phoebe had already left the manor with Clay.

Paige made her way over to the phone as fast as she could and phoned Prue's number.

Prue did not answer her phone so it went straight to answer machine.

Paige made her way to the front door. She was going to go after Phoebe and Clay. However before she had had a chance to open the front door, she felt the urge to vomit, so ran to the bathroom.

'I hate being magically ill,' thought Paige.

* * *

When Paige walked back into the foyer area around forty minutes later, Prue, Phoebe, and Clay were coming in through the front door.

'Phoebe! What happened?' said Paige. 'And Prue! You did not answer your phone.'

'Paige, the curse on that urn is real,' said Phoebe. 'And that means that Clay is in trouble.'

'Sorry Paige, but I could not answer my phone,' said Prue. 'Before Phoebe and Clay burst in, I had Andy practically stating that there was a connection between me, the urn, and some guy's death. Apparently, after he had been here last night, he was called onto the crime scene of the death of some guy called Palmer who had one of my auction cards.'

'Palmer? Palmer was one of my friends,' said Clay. 'The curse got to him! I am the only one left!'

'Oh, that is probably the guy who I spoke to yesterday,' said Paige. 'He tried to take the urn from me.'

Piper walked in the front door behind them.

'What's going on?' asked Piper.

'Piper, Phoebe, Paige. Attic. Clay, stay,' said Prue.

Piper and Phoebe helped Paige up the stairs slowly. Prue followed behind them. Clay remained in the foyer, completely clueless.

Paige lay down on the attic sofa while Prue, Piper, and Phoebe started to search through the Book for a solution.

'So what are we looking for?' asked Paige.

'Legends, antique urns, the Guardian, curses,' said Prue.

'Hey, doesn't your friend Isobel know a lot about curses?' asked Phoebe.

'Wrong sort of curse, Pheebs,' said Paige. 'Isobel can make curses. This urn thing is a totally different type of curse.'

'We really need to meet these Strattons one day,' said Piper.

'I have already met Isobel,' said Phoebe.

'Me too,' said Prue.

'You know what I meant,' said Piper. 'I meant the whole family. It would be nice to meet another magical family. Plus it would be nice to meet the people who have been Paige's friends since she was little.'

There was a silence. Prue and Phoebe knew that Wilson would be unable to come.

'I am so sorry, Paige,' said Piper. 'I meant a time after Wilson is back!'

'It's okay,' said Paige. 'I know you meant no harm.'

Paige closed her eyes and must have drifted off because when she resumed consciousness she could not hear them talking anymore.

Paige opened her eyes. She was lying on the ground of the underworld. She had not been here since the first night of her mysterious sleep travels. Paige slowly sat up.

Paige noticed she had turned up in the exact same area of the underworld as the time before. Except this time, because she knew it was there, she could see the tent.

Paige crawled into the tent. She avoided standing to prevent any extra head throbs.

There were three men in the tent. None of them were Wilson, and as they had never met Paige before, they became quite defensive.

'A demon has breached our base!' yelled one of the men.

'I am not…' started Paige weakly, but they interrupted her. She wished they would keep their voices down, because her head hurt so much.

'Get your potions out, men. Let's vanquish this demon before more can come,' said one of the men.

'I am a witch. Not a demon,' said Paige.

'A witch? So you just happened to be wandering the demon underworld and then managed to notice our charmed tent?' said the first man, obviously unconvinced.

'Wilson showed me last time I was here,' said Paige.

'She knows Wilson's name,' said the third man, finally speaking up.

'It's a trick!' said the first man.

'Throw the potion!' said the second man to the third.

'Don't!'

Paige looked behind her. At the tent's entrance Wilson had appeared.

'Paige!' Wilson said. 'I woke up the other night and you had disappeared.'

Wilson picked Paige up onto her feet and hugged her.

'I told you I was having sleep problems,' said Paige smiling.

'Are you okay, Paige? You don't look well,' said Wilson.

'Personal gain consequences of a spell,' explained Paige.

Wilson nodded. 'Those consequences always vary from spell to spell.'

Wilson and Paige hugged.

'Er, do you want us to leave for now?' said the third man.

'Please,' said Wilson.

The three men left the tent.

'As much as I want to stay here with you,' said Paige. 'I need to go back and help my sisters.'

Wilson nodded. 'You need to fall asleep then?'

'Yes,' said Paige. 'Will you lie down with me? I will find it easier to sleep with you there.'

'Of course,' said Wilson.

Wilson and Paige lay down on his sleeping bag like the previous night. Paige buried her head on Wilson's chest and closed her eyes.

* * *

Paige did not know how long she had been lying with Wilson for, but when she opened her eyes she noticed that she was in Quake. Paige was behind the bar area. She stood up slowly. As she came into the view of Piper and Phoebe – who were sitting on the other side of the bar – they jumped in surprise.

'Paige! You are back!' said Piper, hugging her.

Paige looked around. The room was frozen and Prue was taking a ring box from frozen Doug's pocket and putting it onto the floor, between Doug and Shelly.

'How long have I been gone for? Have I missed much?' asked Paige.

'Well, you disappeared from the manor around three and a half hours ago,' said Piper.

'We left the manor around three hours ago,' said Prue, returning to the bar.

'Clay committed a selfless act by saving me that made the Guardian of the urn disappear around two and a half hours ago,' said Phoebe.

'We came to Quake around two hours ago,' said Piper.

'And Prue only just decided to force Doug and Shelley's relationship to go somewhere just now,' said Phoebe.

'Hang on. So Prue is allowed to meddle in someone's love life, but we are not allowed to meddle in her love life?' laughed Paige.

Prue rolled her eyes.

The room unfroze and they watched as the happy couple were brought together by the appearance of the ring box on the floor.

After that, Clay turned up to say goodbye to Phoebe.

* * *

That evening Paige was lying on the attic sofa wondering where she would go when she finally fell asleep, when there was a knock on the door.

'Come in,' said Paige.

Prue entered.

Paige sat up so as Prue could sit on the sofa.

'I am sorry we have not sorted something out about your sleep issues yet,' said Prue.

'About that: Did you three actually see how I left the attic earlier today?' asked Paige.

Prue shook her head. 'We were too busy looking through the Book. We looked up and noticed you were gone. Then Phoebe found out that Clay had left, so we had to go after him to make sure he did not get himself killed. We did not forget about you.'

'I never said you did,' said Paige.

'Where did you go?' asked Prue.

'I found myself in the demon underworld again,' said Paige. 'The exact area that Wilson's research team are based. That is the only part of the sleep travelling that I like.'

'We will find a solution, Paige,' said Prue. 'It is not safe. If you could control it then maybe it would be okay, but you cannot. We cannot lose you, Paige.'

Paige sighed.

'I have a question for you, Paige,' said Prue.

'What's up?' asked Paige.

'Well, since I woke up yesterday, I have had a splitting headache,' said Prue. 'I have not mentioned anything about it because I assumed it had something to do with the affects of the charm. However, earlier today, Piper asked me, out of the blue, whether I had a concussion. I was surprised by the question since I had not told her about my headache. When I asked her about it, Piper told me to 'ask the squirrel' and when I asked for her to explain, she said Paige will explain.'

Prue stared at Paige, waiting for a reply. Paige blushed.

'I needed Piper's help moving your sleeping body from Claire's office back to the manor,' began Paige. 'Piper came and we lifted you up. Piper was holding your feet. I was holding your head…'

'You dropped me?' said Prue.

Paige went even redder with embarrassment as she recalled what had happened:

_'Paige, help me carry, Prue,' said Piper._

_Paige nodded and helped to pick up Prue. Suddenly, Paige saw something move outside the office window. Distracted, Paige let go of Prue and watched as a squirrel ran past the window on the grass outside._

_'Squirrel!' shouted Paige gleefully._

_'Paige!' shouted Piper._

_Paige looked from the window back to Piper. Piper was holding Prue's feet up, but Prue was on the ground. Paige had forgotten all about Prue when she had been distracted by the squirrel and dropped her back onto the floor, head first._

_'Oops, that is going to hurt in the morning,' giggled Paige._

_Piper was not happy._

'Yeah,' admitted Paige. 'Sorry Prue. The 'Sleep Dispossession' charm made me so careless that I got distracted by a squirrel running past outside.'

There was a short silence before Paige broke it.

'Prue,' said Paige.

'Yes?' said Prue.

'Earlier when you were magically asleep,' said Paige. 'Do you know why you woke up so much later than everyone else?'

'Paige, I was asleep. How am I supposed to know?' laughed Prue.

'Were you dreaming?' said Paige.

'I think I was,' said Prue.

Paige grinned a big grin. 'Was Andy in it?'

'No,' said Prue blushing. It was obvious she was lying.

Paige laughed. 'When you did wake up, was Andy in the living room?'

'I think Andy was kissing me when I gained consciousness,' said Prue.

'Aaww Prue! True love's kiss!' said Paige.

'Paige, he was kissing me on the cheek,' said Prue.

'Still though it is a sign that he cares and it woke you up!' said Paige.

'We don't even know that,' said Prue. 'Maybe my wake up was delayed because I am a witch!'

'Prue, stop denying that it was Andy who woke you up,' said Paige.

'I did not wake up because of Andy,' laughed Prue.

'Every Charmed One deserves a Prince Charming,' said Paige. 'And Andy is yours, Prue.'

'Stop it, Paige,' said Prue, going red in the cheeks.

'Did Andy mention it when he saw you today at work?' asked Paige.

Prue shook her head. 'I think he was embarrassed about the kiss. Plus he was on duty.'

Paige shrugged.

'Andy is your Prince Charming,' said Paige. 'After true love's kiss always comes a happily ever after.'

* * *

**A/N:** Slightly shorter than normal but it was a necessary chapter to finish off the _Feats of Clay_ storyline. It's never been my favourite episode even though it is surrounded by some good season one episodes. Please review.


	24. The Wendigo (Plus The Crystal Idea)

**A/N:** I am trying not to have Paige too directly involved in the actual original episode storylines otherwise it will be too similar, but at the same time, I am trying to have her involved with the Halliwell's adventures. Not easy to do both. Anyway, this chapter starts to show how growing up with magical knowledge makes this Paige slightly more well-informed about the myths and folklore of the magical world than the sisters.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Four: The Wendigo (Plus The Crystal Idea)**

It had been a week or so since Clay had left for New York. Paige was still suffering from the personal gain consequence of the 'Sleep Dispossession' charm. She was also still experiencing travelling while she slept.

Prue had found something in the Book about crystals being used for protection from magic and had suggested that Paige try sleeping with crystals arranged around her. Tonight was going to be their first night at testing this method.

Paige had accompanied Piper on a road trip that day and the jeep had gotten a flat tire on the way back. It was dark now and while Paige sat in the car, Piper was outside on the phone to Phoebe, trying to figure out how to use a jack and ratchet.

Paige watched as Piper got a wooden spoon out of the back of the jeep and bent down to the flat tire. Paige heard something snap. When Piper stood up, Paige saw half a spoon in Piper's hand.

Paige wished she could help, but most movements still made her feel nauseous. The only reason she had accompanied Piper for the day was because Piper had forced Paige to. Piper had moaned that Paige had not been getting enough fresh air recently as she had been cooped up in the attic.

Paige closed her eyes. She was tired but she knew she did not want to sleep until she was back at the manor. That way they could test out the crystals.

* * *

Paige opened her eyes and found herself in the back seat of Prue's car. Paige sat up.

Prue slammed her foot on the brakes when she spotted Paige suddenly sitting up in the rear view mirror. The car skidded and Prue had to quickly regain control of the car.

'Paige! Where did you come from?' asked Prue.

Phoebe was sitting in the passenger seat and turned to see Paige.

'That's why Andy did not mention anything about Paige when he phoned up!' said Phoebe.

'Huh? What's going on?' asked Paige.

'Piper was attacked,' said Prue. 'She is in hospital. That is where I am driving to now.'

'Oh no! I was sent here to look after the Charmed Ones, yet I fell asleep just before Piper got in trouble!' said Paige in outrage. 'How can I be so useless?'

'Don't blame yourself, Paige,' said Phoebe.

'It's my fault,' said Paige. 'If I had not fallen asleep she may not have been attacked.'

'Listen to Phoebe,' said Prue. 'It's not your fault.'

'Wow, are you always going to agree with me now that I am your work colleague?' said Phoebe smiling.

'Work colleague?' said Paige.

'Oh, Prue asked me to help her out at the auction house,' said Phoebe.

'My first choice would have been you, Paige,' said Prue. 'Firstly, it is easier to work with people who are not family.'

'Well, I am family,' thought Paige.

'Plus, you helped out the other week at the auction house,' said Prue. 'So you are used to this sort of work.'

'So how comes you ended up going with me?' asked Phoebe.

'I don't think Paige is up to it in her current health, are you, Paige?' said Prue.

'I don't think I could manage it, no,' said Paige. 'Plus, Claire hates me. She literally told me never to set foot in Bucklands again after the day of that auction.'

Prue laughed. 'Sounds like a compliment hearing something like that said by Claire.'

As they arrived at the hospital, Prue and Phoebe rushed in. Paige walked up behind them. They reached the reception and asked for Piper. At the same time they were greeted by Andy.

The nurse pointed them in the right direction and then said, 'Family and authority figures only, please.'

Family, that was Prue and Phoebe. Authority figures, as a cop that was Andy.

'It's okay,' said Paige to Prue and Phoebe before they could protest. 'I will wait out here. Besides with the way I feel at the moment, I don't know if the sight of blood is a good idea.'

Prue, Phoebe, and Andy left the reception to find Piper.

Paige was sitting in reception when a man walked up to her.

'Hi?' said the man, holding out his hand for Paige to shake.

'Hi,' said Paige, shaking his hand. 'You are?'

'I am Billy Waters,' said Billy. 'You look like your sister Piper. I saved her from the creature that attacked her.'

'You think I look like Piper?' said Paige smiling.

'Oh, are you not her sister?' Billy asked.

'I am,' said Paige. Then she realised this might cause issues if he spoke to Prue and Phoebe, so she decided to adjust her sentence. 'I am like a sister to the Halliwells. I am a really close friend.'

'I could have sworn you were sisters,' laughed Billy.

Paige smiled. 'Thank you for saving Piper. Did you say there was a creature involved?'

Billy nodded. 'It is big and hairy with yellow eyes and talon-like hands. It killed my fiancée. I have been hunting it ever since.'

'Did you say 'yellow eyes and talon-like hands'?' said Paige. Her expression had changed to worry.

'Yes. You recognise the description, don't you?' said Billy.

'I don't know. Maybe,' said Paige. 'I know I have heard of it before. I have never come across one.'

Paige suddenly wanted to be back at the manor right now. She needed to have a look in the Book of Shadows.

A man covered in blood was rushed past Paige and Billy on a gurney. The sight of this made Paige's already nauseous stomach feel worse. Paige fainted.

* * *

Paige opened her eyes. She was lying in the attic. The ringing noise of the phone had woken her up.

'Am I able to control this now?' she thought. She had wanted to go to the attic and now she was there. She was also pretty worried about the fact that this could have happened in public.

Paige went down to the hallway and picked up the phone.

'Hello?' said Paige.

'Paige!' It was Prue's voice.

'Where are you three? How long was I asleep?' said Paige.

'Piper, Phoebe, and me came out into the reception with Andy. Piper started talking to the guy who rescued her…' said Prue.

'Billy, right?' said Paige.

'Yes,' said Prue. 'Then Billy told Piper and the rest of us that you had fainted from the sight of blood so you had been placed in a private room.'

'Really? So I did not disappear right away? That's good,' said Paige. 'Public exposure of magic hopefully averted.'

'Yeah,' said Prue. 'While Piper and Andy discussed matters with Billy and an FBI agent, Phoebe and I went to the room you had been left in.'

'Let me guess, I wasn't there,' said Paige.

'Exactly,' said Prue. 'I was hoping you would turn up at the manor.'

'I need to check the Book for Piper's creature now,' said Paige. 'Are you on your way back?'

'Yes,' said Prue. 'I am glad you are okay, Paige. We have to test out those crystals tonight.'

'Sure,' said Paige. 'Bye.'

Paige hung up and returned to the attic.

Looking through the Book, Paige found the page she had been looking for: The Wendigo.

Whenever Paige had slept over at the Stratton's house for an evening when they were little, Wilson had loved telling scary stories in an attempt to scare Paige and Isobel. One of the most popular scary stories amongst children in the magical world was the one about the Wendigo. It went like this:

'There once was a little witch,

She always planned to be bad without a hitch.

One day she came across a creature,

With the strangest of all features.

It had bright yellow eyes,

That nature it defies.

And talon-like hands and a lot of hair,

The little witch did get a scare.

With little pause did the little witch run,

The creature found the chase quite fun.'

There was more to the story but Paige could not remember the rest at that moment in time.

From what Paige read in the Book, it added to the information she already knew. The first Wendigo had been a mortal human who had been betrayed by their lover. Therefore, the first Wendigo cut his lover's heart out and ate it which turned his own heart to ice and he became a monster. By day he was human, by night he was the Wendigo. However the transformations only occurred three nights in a row in a month, during three phases of the moon.

'There must be more to this. I am sure there is,' Paige muttered to herself.

The attic door burst open and in came Prue and Phoebe closely followed by Piper.

'Hi,' said Paige. 'Piper, are you okay? I always used to have nightmares about the Wendigo when I was little.'

'I'm okay,' said Piper. Then she added, 'The what?'

'The Wendigo,' repeated Paige. 'Billy was describing it to me earlier and I recognised the features but I needed to check the Book for confirmation.'

'Was it in there?' asked Prue.

'The Wendigo is,' said Paige. Paige beckoned Piper over to the Book and pointed at the picture of the Wendigo. 'Is this the thing that attacked you?'

Piper nodded.

'If it's loose out there,' said Paige. 'We have to find it.'

'I agree,' said Piper. 'We cannot let other people get hurt by this creature.'

'Neither of you two are in a position to do anything,' said Prue. 'Piper, you need to rest. Paige, you are still sick.'

'Besides Andy and that FBI agent are looking for it,' said Phoebe.

'That's not a good thing,' said Paige. 'They do not have all the information on the Wendigo that we have.'

'Paige, if we are going to go looking for it, we will do it all together,' said Prue. 'Tomorrow after work, okay?'

Piper and Paige sighed in defeat and both said, 'Okay.'

'It's late,' said Prue. 'Should we try out the crystal technique?'

Paige shrugged. 'Why not?'

Paige lay down on the attic sofa and Prue placed a circle of crystals around the sofa.

Paige tried to leave the circle but was forced back by an invisible force field.

'I guess it works…' said Paige, lying back down on the sofa.

Using her telekinesis, Prue moved one of the crystals out of line to break the force field so as she could hand Paige what looked like a walkie-talkie.

'Basically Paige, just call us on this when you wake up in the morning,' said Prue. 'One of us will be here to come and move the crystals so you can get out in the morning.'

Paige nodded. She looked at the walkie-talkie. 'Is this a baby monitor?'

'Sorry about that,' said Phoebe. 'The baby monitor was cheaper than getting a walkie-talkie.'

Paige laughed.

Prue moved the crystal back into the circle.

'See you in the morning,' said Prue.

'Have a pleasant travel-free sleep,' said Phoebe.

'Good night,' said Piper.

The three Halliwells left the attic, shutting the door behind them. Paige noticed Piper had taken the Book of Shadows with her. Piper was probably going to be reading up on the Wendigo.

Paige closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

* * *

_Paige was eleven. Isobel and Wilson were both twelve. Paige was staying over at the Stratton's house that evening because Leo was away trying to get one of his charges out of trouble._

_Paige, Isobel, and Wilson sat on the floor in a circle in the gap between Isobel and Wilson's beds._

_'It's my turn to tell a scary story,' said Wilson._

_'No!' said Isobel and Paige together._

_'You are going to tell us the Wendigo one! You always tell us that one!' said Isobel._

_'Yeah! We do not want to hear it anymore,' said Paige._

_'Aaww. Issy and Paigey are scared of a furry little creature?' laughed Wilson._

_'No!' said Isobel. 'And don't alter our names like that! Or I will start calling you Will again! I know how much you hate that!'_

_Paige had gone quiet. She had always hated the Wendigo story. She never said anything though because she did not want Wilson or Isobel to know that she was scared._

_'There once was a little witch…' began Wilson with a big grin on his face._

_'No!' said Isobel. 'We don't want to hear it. Think up a new story!'_

_There was a knock on the bedroom door and Isobel and Wilson's father entered the room._

_'It's getting late now, you three,' said their dad. 'Why don't you get some sleep?'_

_Wilson sighed. 'Okay, dad.'_

_Wilson got into his bed. Isobel got into her bed. Their dad pointed at an empty corner of the room, muttered a few words, and a freshly made bed appeared out of nowhere, against the wall, just below the window._

_'There you go, Paige,' he said._

_As Paige got into the bed, Mr. Stratton wished them all a good night and left the room._

_Wilson started to make growling noises._

_Paige jumped in fright._

_'Stop it, Wilson!' moaned Isobel._

_'What?' laughed Wilson. 'I wasn't doing anything.'_

_Later that evening, Paige was woken up by a scratching noise._

_'Wilson, is that you?' Paige whispered across the room._

_No reply._

_Paige was the only one awake._

_There was that scratching noise again. It was coming from the window. The window was directly behind Paige's head._

_Slowly, whilst terrified, Paige sat up in her bed. Her heart beat fast as she turned around and began to open the curtains –_

Paige woke up in a sweat. Her heart was hammering fast. The dream she had just had was a memory. This had actually happened on one of the nights that she had staid over at the Stratton's house. However, she could not remember what had been behind that curtain.

The attic was light. It was morning. Paige had definitely not travelled that night. That was good. The crystal idea had worked.

Paige sat up slowly. She picked up the baby monitor and spoke into it.

'Hello?' said Paige. 'Can I get some help up here?'

Almost immediately Paige heard a reply, 'I will be right there in a second.' It was Piper.

A minute or two later, the attic door opened and Piper came in. She moved the crystals out of line.

'You are free to go. I guess it worked,' said Piper smiling.

Paige nodded but did not stand up.

Piper must have seen Paige's distressed look because Piper sat down on the sofa next to Paige and asked, 'What's wrong?'

'I had a dream,' said Paige. 'Well, it was more like a memory.'

'A premonition of the past?' asked Piper.

'No, nothing like that,' laughed Paige weakly. 'Have you never dreamed about something that happened when you were little just because a current event has prompted it?'

'Do you mean you have seen the Wendigo before?' said Piper. 'And you dreamt about that time?'

'No, I have never seen the Wendigo before,' said Paige. 'You remember how I know another family of witches?'

'The Strattons, yes,' said Piper.

'Well, when my foster dad was away due to work reasons, I would stay round their house,' said Paige.

Piper nodded and Paige continued.

'A common scary story choice amongst magical children is the one about the Wendigo,' said Paige. 'Wilson liked to tell this story a lot…'

'Were you scared of the Wendigo?' asked Piper.

'Yes,' gulped Paige. 'Every time I was reminded of the story, I would not be able to sleep without getting worried that the Wendigo would come bursting into the room.'

'Oh, poor Paige!' said Piper, hugging her little sister. 'I can feel your terror!'

'Piper, you experienced the one thing that I have always been so frightened of experiencing,' said Paige. 'I cannot believe I was not there to keep my own sister safe from the creature that had me hiding under my covers for the majority of my childhood years.'

'And yet you like this Wilson guy?' said Piper.

'He did not know how scared I was,' said Paige. 'Plus we were only children back then. Wilson became less annoying when he finally grew up.'

Piper laughed. 'Don't all men.'

There was a silence.

'Do you want me to get you anything?' said Piper.

'No, I am okay,' said Paige.

Paige stood up and immediately noticed no head rush.

'Hey, my day is already looking up,' said Paige. 'My head is fine. Plus, I think I could stomach some cooked breakfast.'

'You will have to make it yourself,' said Piper smiling. 'I am off to Quake.'

'I will meet you there in a couple of hours,' said Paige.

'Okay, see you then,' said Piper.

Piper turned to leave the attic, but Paige stopped her.

'Piper, are you okay to be going into Quake today?' asked Paige. 'After what happened yesterday…'

'Paige, I will be fine,' said Piper.

'You better still be 'fine' when I come and see you in a couple of hours,' said Paige. 'Or I will be dragging you home.'

Piper smiled. 'Paige, don't worry about me, okay? I am your older sister. It's my job to worry about you.'

* * *

After Piper had left the manor, Paige headed to the bathroom for a shower. Her head was no longer throbbing and she could walk quickly without the emergence of nausea. After her refreshing shower, Paige got dressed, and headed down for breakfast.

As Paige was terrible at cooking, she decided to find some food in the fridge and eat it cold. It was the first meal she had managed to eat properly for the last couple of weeks without having to leave the room for fresh air.

Paige smiled to herself. The consequence of the personal gain charm was finally over and they had come up with a temporary solution to her sleep travelling. Paige was grateful that she could now focus on helping her sisters once again.

First thing first. Paige had to find and get rid of the Wendigo. Prue had said to wait until after Prue and Phoebe had finished work that day because Paige was unwell. However, Paige was no longer unwell, so she felt this was a nice little loophole allowing her to disobey Prue.

Before Paige could do anything to help though, she had to remember either the end of the Wendigo story or the end of that memory…

* * *

**A/N:** This will be the second whole episode with no Leo. Aaww. Don't worry, Leo will be back sooner than he came back in the canon version of season one. Please review.


	25. The Wendigo (And Piper Tells)

**A/N:** Unfortunately the conversation between Andy, Agent Fallon, and Paige in this chapter is almost exactly the same as the conversation between Andy, Agent Fallon, and Piper in the original episode. It is necessary to keep in though because it gives Paige a chance to get an impression of Agent Fallon. :) See if you can spot the season three reference I make in this chapter. It is only a small reference to one of the season three episode titles to be frank, but I thought it was appropriate to allude to it.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Five: The Wendigo (And Piper Tells)**

Paige had decided against using a spell to rattle her brains for an answer. She had only just finished suffering from her last consequence, she did not want to suffer through another one just in case the spell was considered personal gain. Paige knew that the end of the story or the rest of the memory would come back to her eventually.

Paige chose to stick to her plans of going to Quake after she had eaten breakfast. She decided to walk there as the fresh air would help clear her mind.

As Paige approached the entrance to Quake, she saw Billy leave.

'Billy!' shouted Paige.

'Hi Paige,' said Billy, when he saw who had called his name. 'How are you after yesterday? You collapsed and then decided to wander off. That is silly considering you were clearly not well.'

Paige smiled. 'I am feeling much better now.'

'Why did you get up and leave the hospital without your sisters?' said Billy.

'They are not my sisters, remember?' said Paige.

'Sorry, I forgot. You just share so many features with the three of them,' said Billy who had now met both Prue and Phoebe too.

'Anyway, I woke up on the hospital bed feeling fine. I wanted to get back home so as I could begin researching the Wendigo,' said Paige, lying partially.

'I was speaking to Piper a few moments ago and she said she helped you find out about it,' said Billy. 'I cannot believe you two managed to find out its name and so much information about it.'

Paige smiled. 'Well, when it comes to my sis –' Paige stopped to correct herself. 'To my friend's safety, I want to be well equipped with the right knowledge, especially with the Wendigo still on the loose.'

Billy nodded. 'Paige, you are a good sister to Piper and the others.'

'I told you I am not their sister,' said Paige.

'Paige, why hide it? I can tell you are their sister,' said Billy. 'I hinted at this to Piper in Quake just now, and could tell from her reaction that she already knew but was also trying to hide it.'

Paige sighed. 'Piper found out at the same time as me, a month or so ago. I was abandoned by our mother when I was born. I accidentally came back into their lives, and Piper and I just have not found the right time to tell Prue and Phoebe yet.'

Billy's expression became serious. 'Paige, you should tell Prue and Phoebe. It is never good to keep secrets, especially when you never know when you will lose someone you are close to.'

Paige could tell that Billy was thinking about his fiancée.

'You won't stop until you have avenged her death, will you?' said Paige.

Billy shook his head.

'I will take your advice, if you take mine, Billy,' said Paige.

'What's your advice?' asked Billy.

'Don't let vengeance cloud your vision,' said Paige.

'I think it is a little too late for me, Paige,' said Billy. 'You still have time to tell Prue and Phoebe the truth.'

Billy walked off, leaving Paige to think about what he had said.

* * *

In Quake, Paige found Piper behind the bar. She was just putting the phone down when she noticed Paige.

'Hey Paige,' said Piper.

'Hi Piper. Who were you on the phone to?' asked Paige.

It had become a joke between Prue, Phoebe, and Paige that Piper had never used the Quake phone for work purposes. Piper tended to use it to talk to Prue, Phoebe, or Paige.

'It was Andy,' said Piper. 'He phoned to check up on me.'

'That's so nice of him,' said Paige. 'You know that I have still got an agenda to get him and Prue back together, right?'

Piper laughed.

'I just bumped into Billy too,' said Paige. Then as a joke she added, 'I see you have a lot of men after you today.'

'I was telling Billy about everything we found out about the Wendigo, minus the part about us being witches, of course,' said Piper.

'Of course,' agreed Paige.

'He left to relay the information to Agent Fallon,' said Piper.

'Who?' said Paige.

'The FBI agent,' said Piper.

'Oh okay,' said Paige. 'So far everyone has referred to her as 'the FBI agent' and I am the only one out of all of us who has not met her yet.'

Piper laughed. This time her laugh was quite weak.

'Piper, are you okay?' said Paige.

'I am fine,' said Piper.

Paige narrowed her eyes. 'You are not okay, Piper. I have been under the weather for the past couple of weeks. I think I can tell when someone is ill.'

'Paige you cannot just make an assumption like that,' said Piper. 'Being ill for a couple of weeks does not qualify you to make a doctor's diagnosis. If it did, then why would anyone bother spending six years at med school training to be a doctor?'

Paige shook her head. 'Fine, but I am keeping my eye on you. I will drag you out of here though, when I see the next sign that you are ill.'

* * *

Over the next couple of hours, Paige observed Piper's every move as she worked. As Piper wandered back and forth between the bar and the restaurant floor, Paige could tell that Piper was slightly shaky, maybe even lightheaded. Paige tried to point this out to Piper but Piper snapped at Paige, saying that she was trying to work. Paige even noticed Piper rub an ice cold drink against her forehead a couple of times.

A man approached Piper and spoke to her. Piper and the man went into the kitchen.

Paige sighed, thinking 'Piper is not well at all. I hope this is just due to the scratch and that there is nothing serious I am forgetting about the Wendigo.'

Five minutes later Paige saw Piper leave the kitchen. Piper walked straight past Paige saying 'Paige, we are going home.'

Paige got up from her stool and followed Piper out of Quake.

'What happened, Piper?' said Paige. 'Who was that man?'

'Health Inspector,' said Piper solemnly. 'He forced me to leave because apparently I am ill.'

'You are ill! That is what I have been saying all afternoon!' said Paige. 'You will listen to a health inspector, but not to your own sister?'

'I am not ill. The only reason I agreed to leave was because the health inspector threatened to close Quake if I did not go home,' said Piper.

They had reached Piper's car. Piper got her keys out to get in. Paige snatched the keys.

'You are not driving like this,' said Paige. 'Get in the passenger seat. I will drive.'

* * *

Once back at the manor, Piper refused to go and rest in her bed so sat down on the armchair in the living room instead. Paige gave Piper a blanket and some cold water as well as an ice pack.

Paige gave Piper one of the baby monitors and kept the other one by her side.

'I will be in the attic, wracking my brains about this Wendigo stuff,' explained Paige. 'Just use the baby monitor if you want me to come downstairs or get something for you.'

Paige went to the attic with her baby monitor and looked at the Wendigo page of the Book.

'Come on, Paige. Think!' thought Paige. How did Wilson's Wendigo story end?

Paige closed her eyes.

_Slowly, whilst terrified, Paige sat up in her bed. Her heart beat fast as she turned around and began to open the curtains._

_Paige almost fell off the bed when she saw what it was scratching on the window._

_It was big and hairy. Its talon-like hands were scratching against the glass of the window. Its yellow eyes were staring directly at Paige._

_Paige was frozen in terror, hoping that the Wendigo would not smash through the window and attack her._

_Although she had always been scared of them, she had always blamed it on her over-active imagination. She had never actually believed the Wendigo was real._

_If Paige had not been frozen in terror she would have screamed or ran over to where Isobel and Wilson slept: Anything to wake them up so as she would not have to face the creature alone._

_The sun began to rise. Dawn was approaching. The Wendigo started to transform back into a human. Recognition spread across Paige's face as she realised who the Wendigo was._

_It was –_

Paige heard someone moaning. She opened her eyes. She was on the living room floor. She must have dosed off and sleep travelled to the living room.

Piper was asleep on the armchair but she was moaning. Piper appeared to be having a bad dream. She looked like she had a fever as she was sweating.

Paige stood up, remembering the dream that she had just had. The memory of seeing the Wendigo at the window had come back to haunt her but there was more to the memory that she still could not remember.

Paige approached Piper and felt Piper's forehead. Piper was burning up.

Piper woke up with a start.

'Piper, honey, you are burning up,' said Paige.

'Paige, I don't know what's happening to me,' said Piper.

'Piper, your scratch is probably just a little infected causing you to have a fever,' said Paige, trying to convince herself as well as Piper that this was the reason. 'I will phone the hospital now and make you another appointment.'

Before Paige reached the phone, the doorbell rang. Paige went into the foyer and opened the door.

'Hi Andy,' said Paige.

'Hello Paige,' said Andy. 'Can I come in? I need to talk to Piper.'

'You can't. Piper has the flu,' said Paige. She did not think Piper would want visitors in her current state.

'It's okay. I had a flu shot,' said Andy. 'Besides it's important. It's about Billy. He has been killed.'

'What? I only spoke to him just before he went to see Agent Fallon,' said Paige in shock. 'It cannot have been the Wendigo… unless their human form is aware of everything…'

A lady walked up behind Andy.

'Sorry, had to make a call,' said the lady. 'Where is Piper?'

'Excuse me, Piper has the flu,' said Paige. 'Does she even know you?'

'I am FBI Agent Fallon,' said agent Fallon. 'You must be the close friend that fainted at the sight of blood at the hospital.'

'I am Paige,' said Paige. 'I did not faint at the sight of blood. I have had flu symptoms over the past week or so. I was still recovering yesterday when that happened.'

Paige did not like agent Fallon one bit. She seemed rude, stuck-up, and obstinate. Paige had gathered all this just from being in agent Fallon's presence for less than two minutes.

'Maybe we should come back later,' said Andy.

'I need Piper to tell me whether she knew what Billy was coming to tell me,' said agent Fallon.

'I can tell you that,' said Paige. 'The creature is a Wendigo. It only attacks during the full moon.'

'We know that,' said Andy. 'Did you say something about a human form just before?'

'Oh, that…' said Paige. 'Yes, it looks like a normal person during the day.'

'Really? That's new,' said agent Fallon. 'Did Billy have any idea who it might be?'

Paige did not know why, but a word popped into her head as a reply. 'You.' She did not say it to agent Fallon, but Paige's instincts were trying to tell her that the Wendigo was agent Fallon. Paige ignored them.

'What? Billy? No, I don't think he knew who it was,' said Paige.

'Too bad,' said agent Fallon. Then she handed Paige her card, 'Give Piper my card. Piper is the first to survive one of these attacks. If she needs me for anything just get her to phone me.'

'Make sure Piper gets some rest,' said Andy.

Paige nodded and shut the door as they walked away.

As Paige returned to the living room, she noticed Piper quickly pull her bandage back over her arm. Piper was crying.

'Piper, honey, don't keep taking your bandage on and off. That will not help the wound at all,' said Paige. 'Why are you crying?'

Paige placed agent Fallon's card on the coffee table.

'I think there is something very wrong with me,' said Piper.

'Forget the hospital,' said Paige. 'I am phoning Prue.'

'Hello?' Prue said on answering her phone.

'Get back to the manor now,' said Paige. 'Piper is really sick.'

'We are on our way,' said Prue and she hung up.

Paige went back into the living room and spoke to Piper.

'What was your bad dream about, Piper?' Paige asked, the concern was showing in her voice.

'I don't want to say,' said Piper in tears.

'Piper, please,' said Paige.

'Andy was at the front door, so I went to answer it…' began Piper.

'Andy was the one at the front door just now,' said Paige.

'Oh my! So it could have happened for real if I had gotten up to answer it!' said Piper.

'What could have happened?' asked Paige worried.

'I answered the door, turned into a Wendigo, and attacked Andy,' said Piper reluctantly.

'Piper!' said Paige, comforting Piper by hugging her. 'You won't turn into a Wendigo. I don't recall the Wendigo scratch being infectious in that way at all. I think there is only one Wendigo in existence, the original one.'

Piper looked at Paige and pulled off her bandage.

'Piper, I told you that you should not –' Paige stopped when she saw what was under the bandage. Where Piper had been scratched was an extremely hairy patch of arm. 'Stay here and call me down via the baby monitor if you need me. There has to be more in the Book about the Wendigo.'

As Paige began to run up the stairs, she thought, 'Either the Book has more on the Wendigo, or there is more that I can make myself remember about that night at the Stratton's… or about the Wendigo story…'

Paige took the phone with her and phoned Isobel.

'Hi Isobel. This is Paige and there is no time for pleasantries,' said Paige.

'What's wrong, Paige?' asked Isobel.

'Do you remember when we were little? Do you remember when Wilson would tell us tales about the Wendigo?' said Paige.

'Yes. Those were the days when we thought the Wendigo was made up to try and keep us from being naughty children,' said Isobel.

'Well, a Wendigo attacked Piper last night,' said Paige.

'Oh no! That's terrible!' said Isobel.

'I would say Piper is fine, but she isn't,' said Paige. 'She survived the attack, but she now has a rising fever and where her scratch was, she now has an abnormal growth of hair.'

'What do you need me for, Paige?' said Isobel seriously.

'I was hoping you would be able to remind me as to how that old Wendigo story finishes. You know the one that starts with 'There once was a little witch' and goes on about her meeting the Wendigo,' said Paige. 'It might help me figure out what is going on.'

'I am sorry, Paige. I know the story you are on about, but I am also drawing a blank as to how it ends,' said Isobel.

'Okay. Er, do you remember a night when I slept over… I think I was around eleven. You and Wilson were around twelve. Wilson was telling that Wendigo story…' began Paige.

'Er… You will have to be more specific, Paige. You slept over a lot and Wilson told that story a lot. So often in fact that I am surprised I cannot remember how it ends,' said Isobel.

'Well, I have only recently started remembering a specific night,' said Paige.

Paige stopped for a second. She heard the front door open and shut. Prue and Phoebe were home. Piper would catch them up on everything. Paige had to finish this phone call with Isobel before Paige would go down to the living room.

'I was sleeping over at yours. You refused to let Wilson tell us that story. Your dad came in and told us to all go to bed,' continued Paige. 'I woke up in the early hours of the next morning. There was a scratching on the window and I opened the curtains and saw a Wendigo at the window. You two were asleep and I was terrified. Then dawn came and the Wendigo started to transform…'

'Who was it?' asked Isobel.

'I don't know! I cannot remember,' said Paige. 'I would have thought I would have told you and Wilson the very next morning.'

'Sorry, Paige,' said Isobel. 'I don't recall you ever telling me about seeing an actual Wendigo in the flesh.'

'It's not your fault,' said Paige. 'There is something blocking this memory from me. My mind may be trying to force it out now because it is so relevant to what is happening to Piper. I want to make sure my sisters stay safe.'

'I know,' said Isobel. 'Paige, relax. I will phone you if anything comes back to me, okay?'

'Okay. It's just… This may sound paranoid, but I think Piper may be turning into a Wendigo,' said Paige.

'Is that possible?' asked Isobel.

'I don't know,' said Paige. 'I cannot think of any documented cases of survivors of Wendigo attacks.'

'Neither can I, Paige,' said Isobel. 'Keep looking and I will do the same, okay?'

'Okay,' said Paige. 'Bye.'

'Bye, Paige. Wish Piper better for me,' said Isobel.

Paige hung up and was about to leave the attic when Piper and Phoebe came running in.

'Book, please,' said Phoebe.

Paige pointed Phoebe in the direction of the Book of Shadows.

'What's going on?' said Paige.

'I just had a premonition. We know who the Wendigo is,' said Phoebe. 'It is agent Fallon.'

'My instincts were right!' thought Paige.

'She may be alone with Andy in the park right now,' said Phoebe.

'That's not good,' said Paige.

'Exactly,' said Phoebe. 'Prue is phoning Andy right now to warn him.'

Piper had been flicking through the Book of Shadows and suddenly exclaimed, 'It's just the same crap I have already seen!'

'Are you looking for a reversal?' asked Paige. 'Hang on. So you think you are turning into a Wendigo?'

'Yes! Yes I am and yes I do, but there is nothing in this stupid Book!' said Piper.

Prue came into the attic saying that Andy had not answered his phone. Prue took a look at the Book and pointed out a 'c.f.' in the corner of the page. This resulted in a brief explanation from Prue and a snide uncharacteristic remark from Piper.

'Piper, the way you are attacking us with words,' said Paige. 'It is like you are a coyote.'

Phoebe laughed. 'Coyote Piper has a better ring to it than Wendigo Piper.'

Prue cross referenced 'conferred desiderata' in the back of the Book and found the word 'unbecoming'.

'We have to kill the Wendigo that slashed you by melting its heart of ice,' said Prue to Piper.

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige started to come up with a plan for finding agent Fallon in the park.

'Shouldn't we tie Piper up first?' said Paige. 'Just in case she does transform while we are gone?'

Piper swore at them and Phoebe left the room to find something to detain Piper. Phoebe returned with some handcuffs and cuffed Piper to the pipes in the attic.

'Why are you even here, Paige? We all know you were abandoned at birth!' shouted Piper.

'Piper!' said Prue. 'We all know Paige was adopted. There is no reason to be insensitive about it!'

'Prue, our own mother did not even want Paige!' shouted Piper.

'Excuse me?' said Prue.

'Why would mum know about Paige?' said Phoebe.

'You two are idiots! You cannot even tell that Paige is our sister!' shouted Piper.

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**A/N:** Did Piper just… I think she did… Is the truth about Paige finally out to all three Halliwell sisters? Find out their reaction in the next chapter. Please review.


	26. The Wendigo (And The Little Witch)

**A/N:** This chapter will include Prue and Phoebe's reactions to this news. Plus the rest of _The Wendigo_ episode plot, although it won't be the last chapter under _The_ _Wendigo_ title. Thank you for the reviews!

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**Chapter Twenty Six: The Wendigo (And The Little Witch)**

Prue and Phoebe turned to Paige.

'Paige…' said Prue.

'Is Piper telling the truth?' asked Phoebe. 'Are you our sister?'

Prue looked angry. Phoebe looked annoyed.

Piper's expression had changed again back to normal. 'I am so sorry, Paige. I don't know why I decided to blurt that out.'

'Paige, you came into our lives and told Piper that you were our sister, but you did not tell us?' said Prue.

'I thought there were no more secrets between the four of us, Paige,' said Phoebe, upset.

'I can explain,' said Paige weakly. 'First though, we need to help Piper. We need to help Andy too.'

'_We_ do,' said Prue. '_You_ can stay here and keep your eye on Piper.'

Phoebe nodded in agreement. 'We need time to think over this news before we can talk to you again. Vanquishing a Wendigo seems the perfect way to remove all the excess frustration.'

Prue and Phoebe left the attic. After a couple of minutes, Paige heard the front door close.

Paige sat down on the attic sofa and looked at Piper.

'Piper, you know how dangerous it is for them to know?' said Paige. 'What if the Elders heard that and are taking all your powers away right now? Prue and Phoebe will be defenceless against the Wendigo.'

'Screw you, Paige! Screw them too! Why should I care?' shouted Piper.

'They – we are your sisters! Your family!' shouted Paige. 'That's why!'

Although Piper's hands were constrained to the pipes by the cuffs, her legs were still free to move. The crystals were still formed in a circle around the attic sofa, except for the one that had been moved out of line in order to break the protective barrier. Piper kicked the one crystal into place so as the circle around the sofa was reformed.

'Piper! No!' Paige shouted, realising that Piper had just trapped Paige inside the crystal circle. 'Let me out of here now, Piper!'

'No!' shouted Piper.

'Hang on, why didn't we just use these crystals to detain you?' said Paige. 'It would have been a lot more humane and these were right in front of us the whole time!'

'It's because you, Prue, and Phoebe are thick!' shouted Piper.

'Piper, there is no need to let the Wendigo win,' said Paige. 'I know the real you is still in there somewhere.'

'Poor Paige,' said Piper sarcastically. 'You want everyone to pity _you_ just because you are terrified of the Wendigo! You are so terrified that you could not even think of a solution to help me before the change started to take effect!'

Piper suddenly let out a scream.

'Piper!' shouted Paige with fear.

Paige could see Piper's face. Her eyes had turned yellow.

'Oh no,' said Paige. 'Piper, please don't change! You can beat this!'

As Piper transformed into a Wendigo, her clothes ripped off and the pipe and handcuffs snapped.

'Piper,' squeaked Paige in fear.

The Wendigo (Piper) stared at Paige. Paige was paralysed with terror.

The Wendigo pounced at Paige. In the split second that the Wendigo was in the air, Paige saw her life flash before her eyes. This was it. Paige was about to be killed by her sister. Billy had been right about needing to tell Prue and Phoebe the truth. Too bad Paige would never survive to explain her actions to Prue and Phoebe.

As the Wendigo reached the border of the barrier that the crystals formed, it was thrown backwards into the wall.

'The crystals! I forgot about the crystals!' Paige thought. Then she said out loud, 'Piper, I know you are still in there. You must have trapped me in here to keep me safe. Thank you.'

The Wendigo recovered and found its way to its feet. The Wendigo saw the moon through the attic window and ran out of the attic. Paige heard the front door crash open after a minute. The Wendigo had left and was probably on its way to the park.

Paige suddenly realised that if the Wendigo was on its way to the park then Prue and Phoebe might end up killing the wrong one. What if they killed Piper?

Paige attempted to run at full speed out of the crystal circle. The barrier threw her back onto the sofa. Paige passed out.

_The sun began to rise. Dawn was approaching. The Wendigo started to transform back into a human. Recognition spread across Paige's face as she realised who the Wendigo was._

_It was Mrs. Stratton. The mother of Isobel and Wilson stood on the other side of the window staring at Paige._

_Mrs. Stratton ran away from the window._

_Paige jumped off the bed and shook both Isobel and Wilson awake._

_'What?' moaned Wilson who was half asleep._

_'Paige, what's wrong?' grumbled Isobel._

_'I… I just saw a Wendigo,' said Paige._

_Wilson sat up and laughed. 'Wendigos are not real. They are just silly stories that adults come up with to scare their children into being good.'_

_'Maybe it was a dream, Paige,' said Isobel._

_'It was real,' said Paige. 'I saw it turn back into its human form.'_

_Wilson rolled his eyes, smiling. He was obviously going to go along with it now for fun. 'Who was it then?'_

_Paige paused for a second before saying, 'It was your mum.'_

_'That is not even a funny joke, Paige!' said Isobel._

_Wilson, on the other hand, laughed, still thinking that Paige was just trying to get back at him by scaring him with a fake story. 'So what are you trying to say, Paige? The Strattons are Wendigos? Does that make me and Isobel Wendigos too?'_

_There was a knock on the door. Mr. and Mrs. Stratton rushed into the bedroom._

_'Mum!' shouted Isobel in tears. 'Paige is saying you are a Wendigo! Tell me she is lying!'_

_'Of course she is,' laughed Wilson. 'It's a joke. She is trying to get back at me for constantly telling the Wendigo story.'_

_Paige noticed that Mrs. Stratton was now dressed in a dressing gown, which she must have thrown on when she returned indoors only five minutes earlier._

_'Isobel, Wilson, Paige. Sit down,' said Mr. Stratton. He magicked up five chairs for the five of them to sit on._

_'Paige, what you just saw is true,' admitted Mrs. Stratton._

_Wilson was speechless._

_'What?' said Isobel suddenly frightened. 'Does that mean we are Wendigos too?'_

_'No, that is not how the infection works,' said Mr. Stratton._

_'A couple of years ago, when I was away in Vermont for a work conference, I was attacked by a Wendigo,' began Mrs. Stratton. 'I was the first person to ever survive a Wendigo attack. It was the last night of the full moon that month, so I did not know that I had been affected.'_

_'Before the next full moon, I made sure to find out everything I could about Wendigos so as your mother and I could be prepared for what might happen,' said Mr. Stratton._

_They were mostly talking to Isobel and Wilson, which is why they kept addressing each other as 'your father' and 'your mother' even though Paige was there. Paige still understood who they referred to though._

_'Your father made sure that I was constrained in a crystal circle on the first night of the first full moon after I had been affected,' said Mrs. Stratton. 'That evening I transformed.'_

_'Ever since then, we have been using that technique each and every full moon,' said Mr. Stratton._

_'Is that why mum always works late three nights a month?' asked Wilson._

_'Yes, that was just an excuse so as you two and Paige would not think otherwise about your mother's absence for three nights a month,' said Mr. Stratton._

_'Unfortunately, last night, a demon attacked at the worst time possible,' said Mrs. Stratton. 'Our main concern was vanquishing the demon to keep you three safe. By the time the demon was vanquished I was already transforming and I had already run off into the night before your father could restrain me.'_

_'When I checked in your room to tell you three to get to bed, I was just checking the three of you were safe before I went out to search for your mother,' explained Mr. Stratton._

_'And Mrs. Stratton returned to the garden as a Wendigo?' asked Paige._

_'I did,' said Mrs. Stratton. 'I am sorry for frightening you, Paige. I cannot control what I do when I am in that form.'_

_'That's okay,' said Paige. 'It's not your fault.'_

_Isobel hugged her mum. Isobel was crying. Wilson just stared at his mum in disbelief._

_'We are going to give the three of you a choice now,' said Mr. Stratton. 'I can perform a spell which will allow you to forget all about the events of this very early morning, or you can live with the knowledge that your mother – Mrs. Stratton – is a Wendigo.'_

_Paige, Isobel, and Wilson exchanged anxious looks._

_'To me it looks like you would rather not know?' said Mr. Stratton._

_Paige, Isobel, and Wilson nodded._

_Mrs. Stratton smiled. 'I would rather that than you be frightened of me.'_

_'We are not frightened of you, mum,' said Wilson. 'We just… I just do not like the image of dad having to lock you up three days a month. And how can you bare the transformation?'_

_Isobel's crying became more audible after Wilson had uttered these words._

_'Okay. Paige, Isobel, Wilson. Stand up,' said Mr. Stratton._

_They stood up. Mr. Stratton held his hand over their heads and began to mutter a spell that Paige could not discern._

_There was a flash of light._

The memory ended. Paige opened her eyes and sat up. That explained the reason she and Isobel had had no recollection of that night. The flash at the end had been the memory wipe spell taking effect.

Paige now remembered the end of the Wendigo story too. The memory wipe spell had probably caused a block on how the story ended due to the contents of the last couple of lines. Here is how she now remembered the whole story to be:

'There once was a little witch,

She always planned to be bad without a hitch.

One day she came across a creature,

With the strangest of all features.

It had bright yellow eyes,

That nature it defies.

And talon-like hands and a lot of hair,

The little witch did get a scare.

With little pause did the little witch run,

The creature found the chase quite fun.

And when the little witch did it catch,

The creature gave her a little scratch.

On the next full moon the little witch felt extremely low,

And she found herself transforming into a Wendigo.'

Paige shivered. No wonder she had always hated the story.

'Piper!' Paige shouted.

Paige looked around. The first thing she noticed was that she was not on the attic sofa, but on the living room sofa. Had she sleep travelled? She could not have sleep travelled. She had been trapped inside the crystal circle, but here she was sitting on the living room sofa and the crystals were now surrounding the living room sofa.

Prue walked into the living room.

'I see you are awake,' Prue said coldly. She was still mad at Paige.

'Where is Piper? Is Piper okay?' asked Paige anxiously.

'She is okay. We came back last night with her. She told us she had trapped you in the crystals when she was not quite herself,' said Prue. 'I removed the crystals and moved you down here telekinetically. Then arranged the crystals around you down here in case you accidentally sleep travelled.'

'Thanks, but why did you need to move me?' said Paige.

'Piper had broken the pipes when she transformed,' said Prue. 'The attic was filling with steam.'

Paige nodded. 'Where is Piper now?'

'She insisted on going into Quake today for her shift,' said Prue. 'Phoebe went with her. I wanted to wait here for you to wake up.'

Prue telekinetically moved the crystals away from the sofa and then sat down next to Paige.

'Piper started telling us that it is not your fault that you did not tell us,' said Prue.

'Prue, I promise I will explain it all to you,' said Paige. 'I need Phoebe to be here too though so as I do not have to repeat it.'

'Why? Is that too much effort for you?' snapped Prue. She was cross.

'No, of course not,' said Paige. 'It is for the sake of your destinies as the Charmed Ones.'

Prue sighed. 'Fine. We will wait for Phoebe to get back with Piper. For your own sake, your reason better be good.'

'It is,' said Paige. 'I promise.'

'Yesterday morning when I told Claire that my sister would be working with me for the day, the first thing that Claire said was that she had said that you were not supposed to come back to Bucklands again,' said Prue.

Paige did not say anything. She waited for Prue to continue.

'I just thought she had mistaken you as our sister, Paige, but she said you told her that you were…' said Prue. 'You told my boss who you hate that you are our sister, but not me or Phoebe…'

'I was under the 'Sleep Dispossession' charm at the time,' explained Paige. 'The charm made me quite careless, remember? I let it slip by accident.'

Prue made no attempt to continue the conversation.

Paige looked at her watch. It was two o'clock.

'I must have been out for over twelve hours!' said Paige.

'Yeah, so I realised,' said Prue. 'You are definitely most like Phoebe when it comes to sleeping.'

'I am like you when it comes to stubbornness,' said Paige, trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere between her and Prue.

Prue shrugged. 'And your short temper is very much like Piper's.'

'Billy could tell that I was a Halliwell sister the moment he first saw me,' said Paige. 'I tried to refute it, but he would not accept my denial. He just knew. I wonder how many other people could tell…'

'Obviously not Phoebe and me,' said Prue sulkily. She was hurt at being left out of the picture.

'How much has Piper filled you and Phoebe in on so far?' asked Paige.

'Piper said that the two of you found out at the same time,' said Prue. 'You did not know when you first met us that we were your sisters. Piper also told us that we share the same mum but have a different dad.'

The front door opened. Piper and Phoebe entered.

Piper saw Paige sitting up on the sofa before Phoebe did.

'Paige, you are awake!' exclaimed Piper. 'I am so sorry about last night! I did not mean to say any of that or trap you there!'

'No sweat, Piper,' said Paige. 'Your trapping me in the crystal circle actually saved me from being attacked by you after you transformed.'

'I tried to attack you?' said Piper in shock. 'Oh Paige! I am so sorry!'

Piper sat on the sofa next to Paige, so as Paige was now sitting in the middle of Prue and Piper. Phoebe sat on the coffee table so as she sitting directly opposite Paige.

'I think now is when you start to explain everything,' said Phoebe. 'Please begin, Paige Matthews. Or should I say Paige Halliwell?'

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**A/N:** Originally, this chapter and the next one were going to be one whole chapter, but it would have been far too long. So unfortunately, the bulk of Prue and Phoebe getting to learn more about the truth is in the next chapter.


	27. The Wendigo(Plus Sibling Interrogations)

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews. Oops. I never said that just because the sisters all know, that Leo was going to find out. He is still a long way away from finding out.

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**Chapter Twenty Seven: The Wendigo (Plus Sibling Interrogations)**

'Matthews is fine,' said Paige weakly, ignoring Phoebe's sarcasm.

'Where do you want to begin, Paige?' asked Piper. 'Or do you want me to start?'

Paige shook her head. 'I will explain. It is best that Prue and Phoebe hear everything from me.'

Prue and Phoebe were both staring at Paige, waiting for her explanation. Piper grabbed Paige's hand to support her.

'On the same day that you cast the truth spell, Prue, I wanted to find out who my real family were,' began Paige. 'I decided to try the summoning spell, in case my real parents were…'

'You thought they might be dead?' asked Phoebe, sounding concerned.

Paige nodded. Then she continued, 'Piper walked in on me just after your – our mum and Grams appeared. They explained almost everything to Piper and me. They abandoned me in order for you three to be able to take up your destinies as the Charmed Ones. You know how it is the Power of Three; well, a fourth child in the mix could have caused the Elders to forbid you from ever becoming the Charmed Ones. That is why I did not tell you two the truth. I did not want you to lose your powers because of me.'

'Elders? What are they?' asked Phoebe.

Paige explained the magical terminology for them.

'Now that you know you are our sister, have you found out how you affect the Power of Three, if at all?' asked Prue.

'Do you remember when Phoebe was possessed by Kali?' asked Paige.

'Yes,' said Prue. 'That was before I cast the truth spell though.'

'I know,' said Paige. 'I did not know I was your sister back then. However, I joined in with chanting the Power of Three spell, and back then I did not realise I had affected the outcome of the spell at all.'

'Mum and Grams told us that Paige is part of the Power of Three,' said Piper.

'How? How does that work?' said Phoebe. 'It's the Power of Three, not the Power of Four.'

'Mum and Grams are not sure,' said Piper. 'Their best guess was that it will only work for three of us at a time. It does not matter which combination of us, as long as three of us say the spell.'

'Then what happens if the four of us try the Power of Three spell all at once?' asked Phoebe.

'I never thought about that…' said Piper turning to Paige.

Paige shrugged. 'Me neither.'

'I still do not understand why you did not tell us,' said Phoebe. 'Surely you know from living with the three of us that family comes before magic. So we would not care about losing our powers if these Elders find out. You are our sister! That's the best news we could possibly think of getting!'

Paige sighed. 'Yes, but I heard Prue say that she would never want to give up her powers after the stuff with Rex.'

'That was over a week after the truth spell,' said Prue.

'Oh yeah,' said Paige. She was not going to put any of the blame on Piper. 'I guess I was too worried about causing the three of you to lose your powers to say anything before I even heard you say that, Prue.'

'Paige! There is more to it than that! Don't try and protect me in all of this,' said Piper.

Prue and Phoebe turned to Piper in surprise.

'Piper? What more is there to this?' said Phoebe.

'And don't forget we are mad at you too for keeping this from us,' said Prue.

'I owed it to Paige to keep it a secret for her,' said Piper.

'Why? What happened?' asked Phoebe.

'Piper, you don't have to,' said Paige. 'I am not blaming you for what happened. I was mad when I realised you had kept it from me, but none of this was your fault.'

'Will someone please shed some light on all of this for Phoebe and me?' said Prue.

'Paige told you that we found out on the day of the truth spell,' said Piper. 'Phoebe, do you remember finding out that Paige was about to leave us?'

'Yes! Oh my gosh, Paige! You were going to leave us straight after finding out you were our sister?' shouted Phoebe.

'Phoebe, please do not shout at me,' said Paige. 'I cannot even remember this part happening. All I remember is holding a soaking wet bag of all my stuff and being told it was due to a water demon.'

'The truth spell…' said Prue, piecing it all together. 'Paige, you forgot all about talking to mum and Grams because Piper was in the room with you. So you did not even remember you were our sister.'

Paige nodded. Prue turned to Piper.

'Piper, you would have remembered…' said Prue.

'Don't blame Piper,' said Paige. 'Apparently she did not tell me because she did not want me to leave.'

'Why were you going to leave?' said Phoebe. She had calmed down slightly.

'I can answer this one. Piper told me when I found out again,' said Paige. 'Apparently I wanted to go looking for my real dad because mum told me he is alive.'

'Then why did you not go looking for him when Piper finally told you what you had forgotten?' asked Prue.

'I guess it all depends on the situation you find yourself in,' said Paige. 'I can understand why I would have wanted to look for him when I first found out. I had been spending the last week or so thoroughly researching my background. I wanted to find him. When I found out for the second time though, I had already given up hope of finding my parents. So when I found out that we were sisters for the second time, I did not want to lose you three.'

'Sorry, but why do you keep saying 'found out' rather than that Piper told you?' said Phoebe.

Prue agreed. 'I spotted that too. Piper, you did eventually tell Paige, didn't you?'

'Er, no,' said Piper. 'I was worried she would want to leave again.'

'Then how did you find out, Paige?' asked Prue. 'Did you do the summoning spell again?'

Paige shook her head. 'I had given up on that because I thought it must not have worked the first time round even though I could not remember it. I assumed Piper would have said something about it if it had been successful.'

'Then how, Paige?' asked Phoebe.

Phoebe was sitting on the very edge of the coffee table now. She had leant forward so much as she was so engrossed in the conversation.

'The Relinquishment spell,' said Paige.

'The Relinquishment spell? The three of us said that spell when Rex wanted to take our powers from us,' said Prue.

'It did not even work properly though,' said Phoebe. 'Rex said our powers were not in the lantern. He thought we had our powers still, and we definitely did not. Well, not until the very last second anyway…'

'That's because when you released your powers they went to me,' said Paige.

'Is that because you are part of the Power of Three? You never said the spell, and as a fourth person connected with the Power of Three, our powers automatically went to you?' said Prue.

'Wow, you catch on really fast,' said Paige. 'It took me a while to figure that out.'

'What has that got to do with remembering that you are our sister?' asked Phoebe.

'Well, it is all thanks to your power, Pheebs. I had a premonition of the past,' said Paige.

'So you saw mum and Grams telling you that you were our sister?' asked Phoebe.

Paige nodded.

'You said your source sorted out returning our powers to us,' said Prue. 'So they must know that you are our sister if they knew you had received our powers…'

Paige shook her head. 'My source can never know about me being related to you three. My source is a white lighter and as Piper knows from what I have told her, white lighters are like a link between witches and Elders. If he knew, then the Elders would definitely find out.'

Just to clear everything up for Prue and Phoebe, Paige explained what a white lighter was. When Prue and Phoebe asked why they did not have a white lighter, Paige just gave them the same explanation she had given Piper.

The four sisters sat in silence for a few minutes.

'I understand if you want to kick me out for keeping this from you,' said Paige, looking at Prue.

'Why would I kick you out? I may be annoyed at you, but you are still family, Paige,' said Prue, surprised at the suggestion.

Phoebe cleared her throat.

'Pheebs, I never kicked you out,' said Prue laughing. 'You were the one who decided to go to New York.'

'I never said you kicked me out,' said Phoebe. 'I was just hinting that you did not want me moving back in here.'

'Please don't start arguing right now,' said Piper.

Phoebe laughed. 'Poor Piper. Forever the mediator between the eldest and young –' Phoebe stopped and looked at Paige. 'Hang on. I am not the youngest anymore! Oh no! I am now a middle child just like Piper!'

Phoebe smiled at Piper who rolled her eyes.

'So I can stay here?' asked Paige.

'Of course you can, little sis,' said Prue.

'You are our sister,' said Phoebe. 'You are not getting away from us that easily.'

'So you don't hate me?' said Paige.

Prue sighed. 'We would never hate you. We are just a little shocked that you would keep this from us. Basically, we are just as annoyed with you as we are at Piper.'

'Oh, don't be mad at Piper,' said Paige.

'Be mad at me, not at Paige,' said Piper.

'We are splitting it both ways and being mad at both of you,' laughed Prue.

'Yeah, be good siblings and share,' added Phoebe with a smile.

The four sisters hugged each other.

'Is there anything else we should know?' Phoebe asked Paige.

'No,' lied Paige. She felt guilty that she was still keeping Leo's secret about being their white lighter from them, but she had promised Leo.

Paige picked up the crystals and went to leave the room.

'Where are you going, Paige?' asked Prue.

'Putting the crystals back in the attic,' said Paige.

'You cannot go into the attic. The steam pipes are broken. It's not safe,' said Prue.

'You can sleep down here until the pipes are fixed,' said Piper. 'We were trying to get a hold of someone who can fix them this morning. With Leo away, we are trying to find another handyman who is affordable. It's not easy.'

'You may as well leave the crystals down here for when you next go to sleep,' said Phoebe.

'I won't need them anymore,' said Paige smiling.

'Why not?' asked Phoebe. 'We never figured out what was causing your sleep travelling.'

'We did. I told you from the beginning that it was related to stress and anxiety,' said Paige. 'The bit I did not tell you was that it was the stress of keeping that secret from you. Now that you know the truth I doubt I will be sleep travelling again.'

'If you had told us from the start, Paige…' said Prue.

'Then I would never have had the sleep travelling issue?' finished Paige. 'I know, but I was worried about the Elders finding out and taking away your powers. Talking about that…'

'We still have our powers,' said Prue, squinting at one of the crystals in Paige's hand causing it to fly across the room.

Piper froze it mid-air.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. 'You know I cannot force a premonition so I cannot check.'

'Don't worry, Pheebs,' said Piper. 'If our powers are working, so are yours.'

'You may still have your powers, but if the Elders find out my connection to you three, they may still decide to take them away,' said Paige.

'What are you trying to say?' said Prue.

'I am trying to say that we should keep the charade up that I am just a close friend of yours, rather than telling all the people in our lives that I am your long lost half-sister,' said Paige.

'What? So we have to pretend that you are just a close friend?' asked Piper.

'You have been doing that for few weeks, Piper,' said Paige.

'Only because at first you did not know, and then more recently it was only Prue and Phoebe that did not know!' said Piper.

'That's not too bad, I guess,' said Prue. 'If we can keep a secret about being witches from the general public, then I think we can keep a secret about you being our sister.'

'Thank you,' said Paige.

Prue saw the time and sighed. 'I need to get to Bucklands.'

'See you later,' said Phoebe. 'You do not need to worry about demon attacks at the manor while you are at work.'

'How come?' asked Prue.

Piper smiled. 'We have the Power of Three here without you having to miss work.'

Prue nodded. 'You three are still phoning me if there are any demon attacks! Whether you can harness the Power of Three with or without me, you are still all my little sisters! I am not letting you battle demons without my protection.'

Phoebe laughed.

Paige had been silent throughout this part of the conversation. The three eldest Halliwell sisters turned to Paige.

'What's wrong, Paige?' asked Phoebe.

'Nothing,' said Paige. 'I just cannot believe how easily you are accepting me as your sister.'

'Paige, you were practically like a sister to us before we even knew you,' said Prue.

Paige could feel tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

Later that day, Paige dialled for the Stratton household.

'Hi, it's Paige,' said Paige.

'Paige, this is Isobel,' said Isobel. 'Is Piper okay? Is everything sorted?'

'Yes,' said Paige. 'Is your dad home? I need to speak to him.'

'I will get him for you,' said Isobel.

There was a pause.

'Hello Paige,' said Mr. Stratton. 'How are you? I have not spoken to you for years now. How's Leo?'

'Sorry Mr. Stratton, but I wanted to speak to you about serious matters, not for a catch up,' said Paige.

'What is it, Paige?' asked Mr. Stratton. His tone had become grave.

'Did Isobel mention to you about what had gone on recently in San Francisco?' asked Paige.

'No,' said Mr. Stratton.

'Well, there was a Wendigo. Piper Halliwell got attacked, but survived,' said Paige. 'I know that you know what happens when a Wendigo victim survives.'

There was hesitation in Mr. Stratton's voice. 'You remember?'

'The memory has come back to me over the last couple of days,' said Paige. 'I think my brain was forcing the spell to be broken so as I could help Piper.'

'Is Piper okay though?' asked Mr. Stratton. 'I can get Mrs. Stratton to phone her to give her an idea of how to cope with the curse on a day-to-day basis.'

'Prue and Phoebe Halliwell managed to kill the Wendigo that had attacked Piper,' said Paige. 'Piper is back to normal now.'

'That is wonderful news, Paige!' said Mr. Stratton.

'My main reason for phoning you was to ask you to tell Isobel the truth,' said Paige. 'And Wilson too, when you next contact him.'

'The three of you wanted to forget though,' said Mr. Stratton.

'It has been almost ten years,' said Paige. 'I think it is time they knew.'

Paige hung up.

Phoebe came into the living room with a spoon and yoghurt in her hand. 'Did you tell Isobel about her mum being a Wendigo?'

'How did you know about that?' asked Paige.

'I had a premonition of their dad doing a memory wipe spell on the three of you when I moved the crystals half an hour ago,' said Phoebe.

'Oh okay,' said Paige. 'I didn't tell Isobel. It is up to her dad. I rang to suggest he tell Isobel and Wilson.'

Phoebe sat down on the sofa next to Paige, and started to eat her yoghurt.

'I don't know if I am going to get used to not being the youngest anymore,' said Phoebe. 'Does it mean I have to act more grown up and mature?'

Paige laughed. 'I don't think you will ever find yourself acting more mature. Even when you have kids, they will be more grown up than you.'

Phoebe flicked some yoghurt at Paige.

Piper came and sat down next to Phoebe.

'There better not be any yoghurt on the sofa,' moaned Piper.

Phoebe smiled and decided to flick some yoghurt in Piper's direction too.

'Phoebe!' said Piper.

Paige laughed.

'So after what happened over the last two days, are you still scared of the Wendigo?' asked Phoebe.

'Scared? I came face-to-face with one, and even though I knew it was Piper, the Wendigo still terrified me,' said Paige.

Piper frowned. 'Sorry Paige.'

'Don't apologise, Piper,' said Paige. 'You did not want it to happen as much as the rest of us.'

Piper sighed.

To lighten the mood, Phoebe said, 'Between my fear of elevators and Piper's fear of flying, your fear is much more rational.'

'How about Prue? What is her greatest fear?' asked Paige.

'Prue is scared of drowning…' said Piper.

Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks.

'What are you not telling me?' asked Paige.

'There is a reason why Prue fears the water in that way,' started Phoebe.

'We should probably tell you, considering it concerns you now,' said Piper.

'What is it?' asked Paige.

'That's how…' began Phoebe, but then she stopped.

'It's…' Piper could not say it either.

'It's how mum died.'

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige looked up at the living room entrance. Prue had turned up and had managed to say what the other two Halliwells could not.

'Oh,' said Paige in shock.

* * *

**A/N: **Just to note. The way this chapter ended was not a cliff hanger. Therefore the next chapter will not start with a discussion over this. I just wanted to lead it into the following episode considering which episode is next in season one.


	28. FFearTEternity (PlusProtectTheBabySis)

**A/N:** Sorry to disappoint everyone, but I actually lost all respect for this episode when Barbas would not stop showing up in season six and seven. Therefore, there may not be so much of a confrontation between Paige and Barbas in this version of the episode. On the plus side, I do have big plans for Paige's role in the episode _Secrets and Guys_. Please read and review.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Eight: From Fear to Eternity (Plus Protect The Baby Sister)**

After the initial tension of Prue and Phoebe being slightly mad at Piper and Paige wore off, Paige and her sisters became closer and closer. Paige loved being part of a real family, a family that was actually hers and not brought on her by adoption, not that she did not respect Leo for raising her.

Prue would often talk with Paige about the Halliwell family, about their mum and their Grams. Prue would tell Paige stories of growing up in the manor. Paige could sense that Prue wanted to hear Paige's family stories in return. Paige declined the many opportunities to open up to her eldest sister about her adoptive father. Prue did not seem to mind this though. Fathers were a bitter topic for Prue due to her relationship with her own father.

Piper had decided that it was her job to teach Paige how to cook. Paige had tried to refuse this as she knew that she would never learn how to cook properly. The best she could do was toast bread, and she did not mind it staying that way. Paige's excuses included 'You have never forced Prue or Phoebe to learn to cook!' However, Piper was stubborn and refused Paige's refusal. Paige had given in, happy to be able to spend the time with any of her sisters. Many of Piper's attempts to teach Paige to cook had ended with the kitchen being full of smoke and the fire alarm being activated. Paige had been surprised at Piper's persistence, as after all this, Piper still had not quit trying to teach Paige. Piper became more determined that she teach Paige to cook each and every time that the fire alarm was set off.

Phoebe took Paige out clothes shopping more often than she had before. Phoebe's first excuse for this was that they would celebrate the news that they were sisters by buying a whole new wardrobe. As the shopping trips became more and more frequent Phoebe's excuses became more and more varied from 'We need to make sure we have spare outfits in case the demons ruin our wardrobes' to 'It is the middle of the week, let's shop'. Paige's responses to each shopping trip had gone from 'Yeah, that sounds fun, let's go' to 'Again? Have you run out of clothes since yesterday?' to 'Do you have any wardrobe space left?' and finally to 'You have no job. Where is the money to pay for all these clothes coming from?' Paige realised that Phoebe was doing all this as a way to bond with Paige, but Paige did not see why Phoebe needed to go to all this hassle when they had already been bonding before Phoebe had found out that Paige was her sister. However Paige did suspect that Phoebe felt a little lost at suddenly being an older sister, so may have been doing all the extra shopping for herself and Paige in order to try and compensate for her lack of know-how in the role.

It had now been a couple of months since Paige had last seen Leo, the day when he had told Paige that the Elders were assessing her. Paige had wondered how the Elders had not noticed the sister conversations if they were watching her for this assessment. Maybe they were only watching Paige and the Halliwell sisters when a demon or evil being or innocent came into their lives. That was the only explanation Paige had thought of that could explain why Leo had not yet turned up to tell her that he and the Elders knew who she was and that the Charmed Ones would be losing their powers as punishment. She was extremely concerned that this could happen. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe did not seem to worry about the possibility of Paige being found out as their sister. The Halliwells did not have much experience of the Elders yet so could hardly be scared of what the Elders could have in store if they did find out.

Paige had not started to look for employment again since the day she had spent looking through the papers with Leo. However Paige had spent some time researching ideas for a possible dream job. Still nothing had come to mind.

As far as keeping watch over the sisters went, this was becoming quite difficult. On the very first demon attack after all three Halliwells knew that Paige was their baby sister, her three sisters had refused to tell Paige that there was a demon on the loose in San Francisco.

Paige was returning to the manor with bags full of groceries when Prue, Piper, and Phoebe came running out of the attic straight into Prue's car.

Paige dropped the heavy grocery bags as they passed her. Piper froze the bags before they could drop to the ground and Prue squinted at the bags so as they flew back into Paige's arms neatly.

'Thanks,' said Paige. 'Where are you going? Is it a demon? Do you need my help?'

Piper and Phoebe got into the car while Prue shook her head in reply to Paige's questions.

'Piper just had a phone call from Quake,' said Prue. 'She is needed there urgently. I, er, am needed at work, and Phoebe has an interview.'

'Quake and Bucklands are quite far from each other,' said Paige. 'If Piper hangs on five minutes I can drop her off there.'

'Don't worry, we are fine like this,' said Prue jumping into the car and driving off before Paige could argue.

Paige had realised that Prue was lying to her. When Paige got inside, she dumped the grocery bags on the kitchen table. On the stove was a recently used empty cooking pot.

Paige found the Book of Shadows open in the conservatory. The windows of the conservatory were smashed and much of the furniture was upturned. It had looked like there had been a fight in there.

Paige had a look at the page that the Book was open on:

'_The Maximus Demon: Despite its name the Maximus Demon has no demonic powers except for the ability to shimmer. However it is extremely strong. The Maximus Demon is renowned for its choice to shimmer out mid-fight and find new easier victims to prey on within the same vicinity. This is why the Maximus Demon is able to cause so much terror and trouble in an area without being caught. Below is the recipe for a vanquish potion. The potion needs to be used along side a Power of Three spell._'

Paige sighed. The state of the kitchen and conservatory, the position of the Book, and Prue's excuse for quickly leaving with Piper and Phoebe: all these actions made sense to Paige now.

The Maximus Demon must have shimmered into the conservatory and attacked the three sisters. A fight must have ensued, followed by the demon characteristically shimmering out when it realised that the Charmed Ones were going to defeat it. The Charmed Ones had then found the name of the demon in the Book of Shadows. Since the demon is known to shimmer out mid-fight but stay within the same area, the Charmed Ones had decided to whip up a vanquish potion and then drive around San Francisco looking for the demon.

Paige rolled her eyes and sighed. She expected her sisters to lie to her before they knew she knew anything about magic, but why now? Although they had the Power of Three without her, she could have still been a help. For one thing, she could have shown them how to scry for the demon rather than have them run around San Francisco looking for it. Paige was really peeved that they had left her out of this.

Paige got out a map of San Francisco, found a crystal that she could use for the scrying and attached it to a piece of string. Paige found a strand of the demon's hair on a bit of broken glass. The hair definitely did not look like it belonged to one of her sisters.

Paige began to scry for the demon.

Almost immediately the crystal dropped onto the map. Paige took note of the road name and picked up the crystal and map so as she could take them with her in case she needed to scry again.

Paige jumped in her car and went to find the demon.

* * *

When she arrived, Paige saw Prue, Piper, and Phoebe surrounding the demon. They had managed to place crystals around it so as it could not shimmer off.

'Piper, I am going to remove the crystals any second now,' said Prue. 'On the count of three, freeze him.'

Piper nodded.

Paige approached them from behind. They had not noticed her there yet.

'One,' said Prue.

Piper held her arms up ready to freeze the demon.

'Two,' said Prue.

Piper gulped. Phoebe was looking from Prue to Piper to the demon.

The demon looked up and saw Paige coming up behind the Halliwells. He growled.

'Three!' said Prue. She squinted at the crystals which flew to the other end of the street.

'Another witch!' he snarled.

This distracted Piper and she turned to see Paige. The demon took this chance to shimmer out of sight.

'Paige! What are you doing here?' asked Piper.

'Piper! He got away!' said Phoebe.

'Piper, why did you not freeze him?' groaned Prue.

'Sorry,' said Paige. 'I thought I would come and help.'

'How?' said Prue, frustrated at losing the demon before they could vanquish him. 'How could you have possibly helped us, Paige? We had the Power of Three with us already, we had the vanquishing potion, and we had a plan. How would your presence have helped us?'

'Prue, it's not Paige's fault,' said Phoebe.

'It's mine,' said Piper. 'The demon would have tried anything to distract me then and there. It could easily have been a trick and yet I turned away anyway. Don't blame Paige, Prue.'

'Fine, it's not Paige's fault.' Prue turned from Piper to Paige. 'Why did you follow us?'

'Why did you lie to me?' asked Paige angrily. 'Yes, maybe you had already worked everything out without me! Yes, maybe you already had the Power of Three without my assistance! That is no reason for not telling me where you were going! It is not like the old days when you were trying to hide the existence of magic from me, yet today you acted exactly as if it was!'

Prue did not reply. She just glared furiously at Paige.

'Er, sisters, there is still a demon on the loose somewhere in the city,' Phoebe reminded them.

'Let's get back to driving around looking for it,' suggested Piper.

'Don't follow us,' Prue said to Paige.

'I don't understand why you won't let me come,' said Paige.

'It is not safe for you,' said Piper gently.

'So are you siding with Prue now?' said Paige, astonished that Piper-the-middle-child-always-the-mediator was taking sides.

'It is best if you don't come,' said Phoebe. 'You have no powers to protect yourself.'

Paige was even more stunned by Phoebe. 'Phoebe! You never side with Prue in family arguments! How can you be doing that now? And how can you talk about having no powers to defend yourself? What are _you_ going to do to defend yourself? Premonition the demon to death?'

Phoebe sighed with regret. 'Paige, I may not have active powers, but Prue and Piper still need me for the Power of Three spell.'

'I could go instead of you!' said Paige.

'No,' said Prue stubbornly. 'Phoebe comes with us. You go back to the manor.'

Prue ushered Piper and Phoebe to her car.

'I am going to find that demon before you three do!' Paige shouted across the street as she got into her car.

Paige saw Prue's car drive off.

* * *

Sitting in the driver's seat, Paige set the map out on the passenger seat of the car and began to scry for the demon. The crystal landed, but it could not be right… According to the crystal, the demon was still present on that street.

Paige looked out of the front windscreen of her car onto the street. She could not see the demon anywhere.

Suddenly there was a click as her car locked itself. She had not pressed the button for her car to do that though.

Paige's eyes flicked from the windscreen to the rear view mirror. In the backseat of the car sat the snarling demon.

'Oh crap,' mumbled Paige.

Paige tried to open her car door, but it would not open. The demon held up some wires which Paige assumed he had ripped out of the car. The wires must have controlled the car's locking system and the demon had broken it.

For a split second Paige wondered how a demon, a creature of the underworld where there was no technology, could be more knowledgeable as to how a car worked than her. She would never have known which wires controlled the car lock and she would never have been able to have found them.

Paige went back to being terrified as the demon punched his hand through the head rest of the driver's seat. Paige ducked in time to avoid her head being removed along with the head rest.

Just then she heard a car screech to a halt near to her own car. The front door was ripped from its hinges and Paige jumped out of the car before the demon could lunge at her again.

Paige looked up to see Prue telekinetically putting the car door on the ground. Piper was hunched inside the car with her hands held up. She had frozen the demon. Phoebe stood by Prue's car with a pale face.

Paige remained crouched on the ground, trying to recover from the shock of all that had happened. She could have died if they had not gotten there on time.

Prue and Phoebe joined Piper by the opening where the front door had been a few moments before.

Piper threw the potion at the demon and the three sisters began to recite the Power of Three spell.

The demon unfroze and burst into flames.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe turned to see Paige still sitting on the ground. Paige could not help but see how pale Phoebe still looked.

'As we were driving off, Phoebe had a premonition that the demon was in the car with you. She thought we might be too late,' Prue explained when she noticed Paige was staring at Phoebe with a look of concern. 'We got back here as fast as we could. I noticed you were trapped and used my telekinesis to rip your car door off so as you could escape.'

'Are you okay, Paige?' asked Piper, helping her youngest sister to her feet.

'I think so,' said Paige.

Phoebe hugged Paige. 'I was so worried when I got the premonition!'

Prue did not say anything. She was glad that Paige was safe, but Prue was still annoyed at her.

'If you had not decided to come in the first place,' said Prue, crossing her arms. 'The demon would not have come after you.'

Paige suddenly found her temper again and her state of shock disappeared. 'If you had told me everything from the beginning, then you would not have lost the demon in the first place!'

'We only lost the demon because you showed up!' shouted Prue.

This time Piper and Phoebe interjected as unbiased observers to the argument.

'There is no point in fighting,' said Piper. 'Everyone is safe. The demon is vanquished. No one got hurt.'

'Let's just all go home and have a nice lunch,' said Phoebe.

'Paige can have a go at cooking it,' said Piper with a smile.

'I am not cooking lunch, you know I cannot cook,' said Paige. 'And don't change the subject. The point here is that you lied to me. All three of you did.'

'Look who's talking!' shouted Prue. 'Miss I-am-a-witch-but-I-want-to-keep-it-a-secret-and-I-am-also-your-sister-but-I-am-not-telling-you! Paige, how can you criticise us about lying?'

'Piper, how do you usually defuse these situations?' Phoebe muttered to Piper.

'Prue, that was different back then! I had to keep those a secret! You know now! Plus a demon attack is different!' shouted Paige. 'Stop avoiding my question! Why did you not tell me?'

'Why do you think I know how to defuse such a tense situation?' Piper said to Phoebe.

'Not telling us that we were your sisters was worse than us lying to you about a demon attack!' yelled Prue.

'You do this all the time when Prue and me fight,' Paige heard Phoebe reply to Piper. 'You always manage to resolve the argument.'

'Prue, stop comparing and answer my question! I had good reasons for keeping those things from you, but so far you have given me no good reason for keeping this from me!' screamed Paige at the top of her lungs.

'I never succeed at calming the situation when you and Prue argue,' Piper said to Phoebe. 'You two always wind down after a while. You just don't notice how much time has flied during your argument.'

Prue was silent now. She was biting her lip, glaring at Paige.

'Are you going to tell me or not?' asked Paige.

'Prue?' said Piper.

'We can tell her the reason if you would rather not do it yourself,' said Phoebe.

Paige suddenly remembered that Piper and Phoebe had been on Prue's side earlier on and although they had not joined the argument, they had still been in support of not telling Paige about the demon.

'If someone does not tell me…' Paige began.

'Fine, we will tell you,' said Prue finally. 'We lied to you about where we were going because you – you are…'

Prue faltered. She had calmed down a little from their argument.

Piper continued for Prue. 'Paige, it is because you are our little sister.'

'Our youngest sister,' added Prue.

'Our baby sister,' Phoebe put in.

'Excuse me?' said Paige.

'Paige, you are our little sister,' explained Piper. 'If we can avoid you coming demon hunting with us, we will.'

'_Excuse me_?' Paige repeated. She could not believe what she was hearing.

'Paige, that demon could have killed you,' said Phoebe. 'We have only recently found out that you are our baby sister. We are going to make sure that we don't lose you.'

Paige shook her head. 'I am only one year younger than you, Pheebs! I have as much right to be here as you do!'

'Paige, you know as much as I do that I am actually almost two years older than you,' said Phoebe. Phoebe was right. Although Phoebe was currently twenty one and Paige was twenty, Paige had only turned twenty a fortnight before meeting the Halliwells and Phoebe's twenty second birthday was due within the month that they were currently in.

'That was not the point,' said Paige. 'The point was that I am not a baby and am old enough to look after myself.'

'Paige, you almost died!' said Phoebe in despair.

'Paige, you are our youngest sister,' said Prue. 'We have to protect you.'

Paige did not want to listen to anymore of this. She got into her car and started up the engine. Despite the scorched back seats, a hole in the back door (where the demon had ripped out the wires), a missing front door, and the lack of head rest on her seat, the car still drove perfectly.

Looking in her rear view mirror, she could see Prue's car following close behind. At first she groaned, thinking that they were purposefully tracking her. Then she remembered that they all lived in the same house and were probably just using the same route as Paige to get back to the manor.

* * *

When Paige got back to the manor she ran straight up to the attic, taking the map and crystal with her. She did not care that her car could be targeted by thieves in its current state.

The pipes in the attic had been fixed a day or so after they had been broken. Paige had managed to find a good plumber. Although Leo's role as a handyman was only a cover up, he had still made contacts with human professionals in his time on Earth as an undercover handyman/white lighter. Paige had used a plumber she had found on Leo's list of contacts.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the attic door.

'I am not here, come back later!' said Paige irritably.

The door opened and Phoebe walked in.

'Paige…'

'Go away, Phoebe,' said Paige, refusing to make eye contact with her sister.

'Paige, we are not going to bother you until you are ready to talk,' said Phoebe. 'All I wanted was your car keys. Piper wants your car moved into the garage until you decide what you want to do with it.'

Paige passed Phoebe the car keys. 'What do you mean by that? I am not getting rid of my car just because it has a few holes in it and lacks a door.'

'Of course not,' said Phoebe. 'I just meant about calling the auto shop.'

Paige rolled her eyes. 'Bye,' she said as a hint for Phoebe to leave.

Phoebe left the attic.

Paige had never been so angry at all three of them at once before. She just could not believe that they had lied to her about going out demon fighting. Yes, they did save her from the demon, but if they had not have kept it a secret in the first place, Paige may never have ended up in the situation that resulted in them rescuing her.

These thoughts kept swirling through Paige's mind, making her more annoyed at her sisters every second. She was _not_ a baby and she did _not_ need protecting.

* * *

**A/N: **I really enjoyed writing this chapter despite it having nothing to do with the _From Fear To Eternity _episode. The issues of this chapter will lead onto Paige's story within that episode. Before anyone asks why Paige did not just orb out of the car as even though she does not know she is a white lighter she still has the ability to orb: I did not want her to orb in this situation as it would have led to her asking questions about how it happened. I have a specific episode that I want her to find out she is a white lighter in, so she cannot start orbing consciously yet.


	29. FFearTEternity (And The Cold Shoulder)

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews! As an answer to one of the reviews: No, Barbas won't be targeting Paige at all in this episode. Look out for a _Is There A Woogy In The House?_ reference in this chapter, which is like a foreshadowing for that episode.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Nine: From Fear to Eternity (And The Cold Shoulder/Shower)**

Paige could be just as stubborn as her sisters. She had been giving them the cold shoulder for a whole week now. It was having an effect on Piper and Phoebe who felt guilty for their parts in lying to Paige. However Prue did not feel that her actions in lying to Paige had been at fault. Therefore, Prue ignored Paige's attempts at ignoring her, and in turn, Paige irritably tried to ignore Prue's efforts to ignore Paige's attempts at ignoring Prue.

It was the evening of Thursday the twelfth, a week after her fight with the Halliwells. Paige was in the kitchen eating a takeaway for dinner. In her attempts to avoid her sisters, Paige had not eaten a meal with them all week. She even refused to eat Piper's cooking. Instead to Prue and Piper's displeasure, Paige had been ordering takeaways all week.

Paige could hear Piper running from room to room looking through drawers and cabinets for something. Eventually Piper came into the kitchen and started looking through the kitchen drawers noisily.

Paige sighed noisily, trying to ignore Piper's presence in the room.

Piper stopped looking in the drawers and turned to Paige.

'Paige, do you know if we have any good luck charms in the house?' asked Piper.

Paige ignored Piper's question and continued to eat her food.

'Paige?' said Piper. 'Paige, I am sorry about what we did. Please speak to me.'

Paige swallowed her food and stood up. Piper's expression brightened with the expectation of her sister talking to her any second now. Paige walked up to Piper and pulled out a fork from the drawer that Piper had left open. Paige returned to her seat and began eating the noodles with a fork. She had previously been using a spoon which had not been very practical.

'That wasn't very nice,' Piper mumbled to Paige. 'You cannot ignore me forever.'

Phoebe walked into the kitchen.

'Phoebe!' said Piper, turning to her other younger sister. 'Can you tell me whether we have any good luck charms in the house?'

Phoebe shrugged. 'If we do they could be anywhere. I am always finding new trinkets lying around the manor.'

Piper let out a groan. 'I need to get to my shift any minute now. Do you think you could get me some good luck charms from that occult shop in Bay road at some point tonight?'

'Sure,' said Phoebe. 'Why?'

Piper did not answer. She found a piece of paper and jotted down the list of charms that she needed.

'Thank you, Pheebs!' said Piper.

'Paige, can I borrow your car?' said Phoebe.

Paige did not reply. She continued to chew on her noodles.

'Paige, you are going to tire of this soon,' said Phoebe tetchily.

'Phoebe, I would rather you did not take Paige's car with the state it is in at the moment anyway,' said Piper.

Phoebe shrugged and said, 'I will have to wait until Prue comes home from work and use her car.'

'That's fine. Thank you!' said Piper. 'I need to get to work now, so I will see you when I get back or tomorrow morning. Bye Phoebe.'

'Bye,' said Phoebe. 'I will come with you to the front door.'

As Piper and Phoebe reached the kitchen door, Piper added 'Bye Paige.'

Paige did not reply.

Piper and Phoebe left the kitchen, shutting the door, but they must have stopped in the corridor just outside because Paige heard Phoebe mutter, 'Why did you even bother trying to say bye to her?'

Paige also heard Piper's response. 'For the same reason that you asked her whether you could borrow her car. She may be mad at us, but she knows we love her and want to include her as part of the family because she _is_ family.'

A minute or two later, Paige heard the front door close.

* * *

Paige finished her takeaway in peace and threw away the container. She had spent most of the week locked away in the attic to avoid Phoebe – out of the three Halliwells, Phoebe was home the most due to her lack of job. However Paige did not feel like hiding away in the attic this evening whether Phoebe was home or not.

Paige went into the conservatory, sat on one of the chairs, and turned the television on.

The window in the conservatory had been covered with planks. Although Paige knew she could get a hold of someone for her sisters that could fix the windows well and for little money (another of Leo's contacts), Paige was still too annoyed with her sisters to help them out.

Paige dozed off a little while watching the television. She woke up when Prue entered the conservatory followed by Phoebe.

'Phoebe, I am not letting you take my car,' said Prue.

'I promised Piper I would get her the charms tonight,' said Phoebe.

Paige turned the volume on the television up with the remote control.

'Phoebe,' began Prue, but she stopped as she could not talk over the volume of the television.

Paige noticed the volume button on the television monitor compress even though no one was touching it. Paige turned to see Prue squinting at it. She was telekinetically turning the television down!

With the remote in her hand, Paige pressed down on the 'increase volume' button.

Simultaneously Prue was telekinetically pushing down the 'decrease volume' button on the television monitor.

A tuft of smoke erupted from the television monitor and although the screen was still working, there was no sound coming from the television.

'The television speakers are broken,' Paige exclaimed to the room in annoyance.

Paige threw the remote across the conservatory floor and lay back on the chair in frustration.

'Phoebe,' Prue continued now that she had won her mini-argument with Paige. 'I will drive you there, okay?'

'Okay,' said Phoebe slowly.

'What time does the place close? Is there time for me to eat dinner first?' Prue asked.

'I think it is open until around one in the morning,' said Phoebe.

'Good. There is just enough time for me to eat first. I am starving. Did Piper leave me something?' asked Prue.

'Yeah, she left your meal on the top shelf of the fridge,' said Phoebe.

Hearing this Paige stood up and walked into the kitchen. She found the covered plate on the top shelf of the fridge and took it to the table. She picked up a knife and fork and placed it around the plate, removing the cover.

Prue walked into the kitchen. She looked stunned that Paige had set her plate out for her.

'Are we on speaking terms again then?' Prue asked cautiously.

'Of course we are,' said Paige. She did not mind talking to Prue considering what Paige was planning to do next to annoy Prue.

Paige sat down on the chair in front of the plate. She picked up the knife and fork and started to eat the meal.

'Paige, is that the meal that Piper left for me?' Prue asked as she wandered over to check the fridge in case she had been mistaken about whose plate was on the kitchen table.

Paige swallowed her mouthful. 'Hmm… This meal? For you? I think it was. I decided though that since Piper has been telling me to eat her dinners all week and to stop eating junk, I thought I might as well do as she said.'

'You are not doing this to comply with Piper,' said Prue with anger on her face. 'You are just doing this to spite me!'

Prue squinted at the plate and it came flying into her open hands. 'I think I will eat what remains of _my_ dinner in my bedroom.'

Storming out, Prue left the kitchen. Paige did not know how long this argument was going to last, but she was determined to win it.

Phoebe walked into the kitchen, wide eyed and cautious.

'What happened there?' said Phoebe. Then she remembered Paige was not going to reply so went to the fridge to find some snacks.

Phoebe jumped almost hitting her head on the ceiling of the fridge when Paige suddenly spoke up.

'I was just trying to get my own back on Prue for breaking the television,' said Paige quietly.

Phoebe turned around slowly to see her little sister looking straight at her.

'Are we talking again?' asked Phoebe.

'Yes,' said Paige.

Phoebe smiled. 'And to Prue and Piper too?'

'Yes… Kind of,' said Paige. 'I have forgiven Piper and you. I still am heavily peeved at Prue.'

'So you won't talk to her?' asked Phoebe, her smile being replaced by a frown.

'I will, but she has not won the argument…' said Paige.

Phoebe hugged Paige. 'I am so glad that our family can almost be one again. Please forgive Prue too.'

'No,' said Paige. 'She has not even said sorry. I will forgive her when she says it.'

'Paige, she won't say sorry,' said Phoebe. 'She does not think that lying to you was doing anything wrong because we were trying to protect you.'

'All she has to say is that five letter word. That is when I will forgive her,' said Paige.

'Paige, I moved to New York and back before Prue and I started talking again after our Roger-based argument,' said Phoebe. 'This fight between you and Prue could last… I don't know how long. You two are just as stubborn as each other.'

'Well then, we will just have to see who cracks first,' said Paige. 'I am not leaving the three of you just because of this fight.'

'Good,' said Phoebe. 'I would not let you run off to New York just because you had a fight with Prue. I am suddenly seeing why Piper was so against me leaving. It must be an older sister thing.'

Phoebe sat down on the chair opposite Paige.

'Paige, I have an interview tomorrow,' began Phoebe, changing the topic.

'How did I not hear about this?' asked Paige.

'You have been ignoring us all week,' said Phoebe. 'You were hidden away in the attic when I first found out.'

'Oh yeah,' said Paige. 'Do you need any help preparing?'

'Well, while we wait for Prue, could you please ask me some practice interview questions?' said Phoebe.

'I will try,' said Paige.

'Thank you!' said Phoebe.

Over the next hour or so, Paige asked Phoebe questions and Phoebe answered them.

Once Paige had run out of things to ask, she said to Phoebe, 'You are so going to get that job.'

'Thanks,' said Phoebe.

Paige smiled. She could tell from Phoebe's expression how much this all meant to her. Similarly Paige had missed bonding with her sisters.

Prue entered the kitchen.

'Hey Phoebe,' said Prue, ignoring Paige's presence. 'Let me just wash my plate up and then we will go.'

Phoebe nodded as Prue went over to the sink and began to fill it with water.

'How's it going, Prue?' said Paige, rolling her eyes.

Paige heard the plate drop into the sink as Prue turned around to Paige.

'You are talking to me?' said Prue. 'No tricks this time?' She was referring to Paige's decision to talk to Prue while Paige stole her meal an hour or so earlier.

'No tricks,' confirmed Paige, holding her hands up in the air. 'It does not mean I have forgiven you though.'

'Good,' said Prue, turning back to the sink. 'I never had anything to apologise for, so there would be no reason for you to forgive me.'

'How's it going?' Paige repeated through gritted teeth.

Phoebe left the kitchen, feeling the awkwardness of the situation.

'I am okay,' said Prue. 'Works been a little busy recently, but it always is so I am not complaining. And yourself?'

'I have not done too much,' said Paige. 'I have pretty much relaxed all week. I have started meditating again.' The meditating had not been working due to Paige's angry emotions towards her eldest sister, but that did not mean that Paige had not been trying.

'Has it been working?' asked Prue.

'Yes,' lied Paige. She did not want to give Prue the satisfaction.

Prue finished washing up and called Phoebe into the kitchen.

Phoebe came in and said, 'Are we going then?'

'Sure,' said Prue.

'Are you coming with, Paige?' asked Phoebe hopefully.

Paige saw Prue grimace at this suggestion.

'Don't worry, Prue, I don't want to come with,' said Paige.

'Bye Paige,' said Phoebe.

'Bye Pheebs,' said Paige. Then she added 'Bye Prue.'

Forced to reply, Prue said, 'Bye.'

While Prue and Phoebe were gone, Paige returned to the attic. She was tired and just wanted to have a look through the Book of Shadows before going to bed.

Paige got ready for bed and then went over to the cabinet to take out the Book. It was not there. Paige searched through all the rooms in the house with no success. Lastly, Paige came to the door of Prue's room. Prue must have been using it while eating her dinner.

Paige turned the handle on Prue's door, but it would not open.

Paige swore. Prue had done this on purpose! She had taken the Book and locked it in her room on purpose in order to get back at Paige for eating part of Prue's dinner.

Paige kicked at the door, wishing there was a way she could get in there.

'If only I could orb,' Paige thought. She laughed at the thought of being a white lighter. She would never actually want that. She did not think she would ever want to be in a role that required listening to the Elders.

Paige kicked at the door again angrily, with no success at gaining access.

Paige slumped down against the door and began to think of a way to get Prue back for this.

Paige suddenly got an idea. She would wait until the next day to put her revenge plan into action.

* * *

When Paige came downstairs the next morning, she found Prue and Andy talking in the living room. As Paige sneaked past the living room on her way to the front door, Paige heard Andy say something about a woman dying of a heart attack. Paige sighed. That did not sound good. It also sounded like Andy assumed that Prue had a connection with this case, like she seemed to have with many of his cases.

Paige was about to continue to the front door when she heard Andy change the topic.

'Prue, I need to talk to you about Paige,' said Andy.

Paige stopped and returned to the living room entrance, standing just out of sight of Prue and Andy, but where she was still able to see and hear their conversation.

'What about Paige?' asked Prue.

'I spoke to Piper earlier on in the week,' said Andy. 'Apparently there is a disagreement in the manor…'

'Andy, you don't have to try and put it so subtly,' said Prue. 'Yes, Paige has been in a mood with Piper, Phoebe, and I all week.'

'Piper was saying how guilty she felt, but she did not tell me what this disagreement was about,' said Andy.

Prue sighed. 'Basically I refused to tell Paige something in order to protect her. Paige found out and now she is mad. Piper and Phoebe have no reason to feel guilty about taking part. It was the right thing to do.'

Andy frowned. 'Paige is a grown woman. Why do you need to protect her?'

Prue shook her head. 'All I can say Andy is that Paige is like a sister to me.'

'The point is Prue that she isn't your sister. She is an independent grown woman. You cannot just block her out of things when she is such a big part of your life,' said Andy.

'You don't understand, Andy,' said Prue.

Prue bit her lip and looked away from Andy towards the living room entrance. Paige was worried that Prue had spotted her peering around the side of the entrance for a second but Paige's worry was unnecessary as Prue looked back at Andy.

'Don't you have that 'weird, ritualistic' case of yours to be getting on with?' said Prue.

Andy let out a sigh. 'I will see you another time then, Prue. Be careful.'

Realising that Prue and Andy were about to go into the foyer – which is where Paige had been spying on them from – Paige had only one way to run. She did not want Prue and Andy to think she had been spying on them. Paige opened the front door, turned back around to take her coat from the coat rack, and –

'Paige, I did not hear you go out this morning,' said Prue with little emotion.

Paige turned around and shut the door to see Prue and Andy looking at her.

'Yeah…' said Paige. Prue had made the assumption that Paige had just gotten back in and was returning her coat onto the coat rack. 'I went out for… a morning jog…'

'You must have left before Piper and Phoebe,' said Prue, her eyes narrowing.

'Yeah, I was a bit of an early bird this morning,' said Paige, trying to sound convincing. Then she added, 'Hey Andy. On your way out?'

Andy nodded.

Loosening her grip on her coat, Paige held the front door open for Andy.

Andy smiled at Prue and Paige. 'It is good to see you two talking. Bye Prue. Bye Paige.'

Andy exited the manor.

Once Paige had shut the front door, Prue stared at her.

'Paige, don't think I don't know that you were listening to Andy and I just now,' said Prue coldly.

'Then why did you pretend to think I had just gotten back in?' said Paige annoyed that she had to lie her way out of an embarrassing situation for no real reason.

'It is not fair to Andy to let him find out that you were eavesdropping,' said Prue.

'So would you say you were protecting Andy?' said Paige.

'Yes,' said Prue. 'Paige, don't try and turn this around.'

'Ah, so you see where I want to go with this?' said Paige scornfully. 'So you know that I want to walk out this door right now and tell Andy that I was actually in the hallway the whole time listening in on your conversation? That way we can see how Andy feels about your trying to 'protect' people!'

'Paige,' said Prue. Her calm, firm voice was a contrast to Paige's rising volume.

'What? You heard Andy! He was on my side about this situation!' shouted Paige.

'Paige, this argument is silly,' said Prue. 'Don't think that I like making some of the decisions that I do, but I have to make them, whether I like to or not. Sometimes it involves keeping things from my sisters, I never like doing that, but if it protects them… I will do anything to protect my sisters… to protect you too.'

Before Paige could reply, Prue turned and went up the stairs. A minute later, Paige heard Prue go into her bedroom.

Paige was still annoyed at her. Prue had explained her actions, but Paige knew that Prue was wrong.

Prue came down ten minutes later telling Paige that she was off to run some errands for the day.

Paige said bye to Prue, but hardly looked up. Paige was lost in her thoughts.

Paige was sure she had forgotten something important – something about the day being Friday the 13th rang a bell, something magical… or demonic. If only Prue had not put the Book in her locked bedroom. Paige could have checked by now.

Paige decided to head out for some fresh air to clear her head. She had found that she was doing this quite often since moving in with the Halliwells. Before meeting them, she used to meditate with Leo to clear her mind or calm down. For some reason though, she always went for walks now.

* * *

Paige was walking along a path a few blocks from Prescott Street, on her way back to the manor. The road beside her was jam packed with cars due to a huge traffic jam. As she passed one of the stationary cars, she heard someone call her name.

'Paige, are you on your way to the manor?' Andy asked through the open car window.

Paige nodded, spotting Andy's partner, Darryl Morris, at the steering wheel.

'I will walk with you,' said Andy. Then he turned to Darryl and said, 'I will go ahead of you, Morris. Something tells me walking will be faster.'

'Sure thing, Trudeau,' said Darryl.

Andy got out of the car and joined Paige in walking along the path.

'So I hear you have been having disagreements with the Halliwells,' said Andy.

Paige shrugged. 'Maybe. Piper and Phoebe apologised so I forgave them,' said Paige. 'It is just Prue who still needs to say sorry.'

'Why are you still living there if you dislike them?' said Andy.

Paige looked offended at the suggestion. 'I don't hate them. I just am peeved at something they did. They are… like sisters to me.'

If Paige could have, she would have told him that they _were_ sisters, but Paige did not want to risk her sisters losing their powers.

Paige continued, 'Besides it is only a small tiff.'

Andy laughed. 'If that is what you call a small tiff, then what do you call an argument?'

Paige smiled. 'What I meant was that I know Prue will come around at some point. I just want to hear her tell me she was wrong to do what she did.'

Andy laughed again. 'Paige, I have known Prue for way longer than you. She will never admit that she was wrong.'

Paige rolled her eyes and changed the subject. 'Why are you and Darryl coming to the manor?'

Andy's smile vanished and he coughed to clear his throat. 'We suspect that Prue is involved in some recent deaths. I am hoping she can give me a logical reason for why she keeps turning up around these crime scenes just before they happen.'

Paige was speechless and suddenly even more annoyed at Prue. Sure she had been arguing with Prue, but why had Prue not told Paige about any of this? Especially if it was concerning magic.

'She does not tell me anything!' snapped Paige.

'I am sure she had a good reason,' said Andy, not wanting to upset Paige anymore than he already had by what he had said.

They had reached the front door of the manor. Paige got out her keys and started to fumble at the lock. She had noticed Prue's car on the driveway which meant Prue was home.

Paige saw Andy looking out at the clear road that was Prescott Street.

'It is funny to see this street so clear in comparison to the one that Morris is currently stuck in a queue on,' laughed Andy. 'If I had staid with Morris in the car, I would not have been here yet. Walking is efficient.'

When they gained entry to the manor, Paige could hear the water running from upstairs.

'She must be in the shower,' Paige said to Andy. 'Wait in the living room. I just have to go and do something.'

Leaving Andy in the living room, Paige headed for the basement.

Now that Prue was in the shower, Paige could put her revenge plan in action. Prue had decided to hide the Book from Paige just because she had eaten some of Prue's dinner. Well, Paige was not going to let Prue get away with that.

Walking down the steps to the basement, Paige felt a shiver in her spine. Her instincts were telling her something bad about the basement. She decided to ignore it though.

In the basement, Paige located the water pipes and the boiler. She knew a little bit about plumbing thanks to Leo. She knew enough to do what she wanted to do right now. She found the correct pipe and the lever that switched on and off the hot water supply. Flicking the switch, Paige turned off the hot water.

'How do you like your shower now?' Paige thought smirking.

As Paige returned to the living room, she knew that it would take a few minutes before the supply of hot water already in the pipes ran out. Therefore she sat down next to Andy, waiting to hear Prue scream.

Andy stood up noticing Darryl's car pull up outside.

'I better let him in,' said Andy.

Paige nodded and went with him to the foyer. She would be able to hear Prue scream better standing near the bottom of the stairs in the foyer.

When Andy opened the door, Darryl walked in and said, 'How long have you been here for?'

'Around ten minutes,' said Andy grinning.

There was a scream from upstairs.

'Prue?' shouted Andy, worried rushing up the stairs.

Paige giggled, following Andy. 'Don't worry. I have played a prank on her. She is fine, just a little cold water is all.'

'Are you sure?' asked Andy. He still looked extremely worried as they reached the upper landing. Darryl was a few steps behind them.

'She is fine,' said Paige. 'It was just a joke. I turned off the hot water five minutes ago and she obviously just ran out of what was left in the tank.'

'She did not sound fine to me,' said Andy, continuing to the bathroom door.

Andy got his gun out and kicked the door open.

Prue was standing on the bathroom floor looking pale.

'Prue? You okay?' said Andy.

'I don't know,' said Prue.

'I will wait for you downstairs,' said Andy blushing, following Darryl back down the stairs.

Prue picked up a towel, wrapped it around herself, and wandered onto the landing. She stopped by Paige.

'That cold shower prank was own back for hiding the Book of Shadows from me,' said Paige.

Prue did not react. She gulped. Lost in thought.

* * *

**A/N:** Tut tut Paige. She is so blinded by anger and revenge that she cannot even tell the difference between a prank going well and a demon attack. Or is Prue more in the wrong than Paige, considering she has not told Paige about the Friday the 13th stuff that she would have read in the Book of Shadows already? Please review.


	30. FFearTEternity (And So NOT A Clip Show)

**A/N:** Wow. The last chapter received some controversial reviews! I do understand that I exaggerated a bit with having the silent treatment last a whole week, but you have to take into the account that Paige has the Halliwell stubbornness, plus the fact that she is used to being an only child. I will add in a Barbas moment for Paige. However, she will not even realise it was him, otherwise that would ruin the way that this chapter ends. Also, I am uploading this next chapter now (so quickly) for two reasons. One, because you all reviewed so fast; Two, because this chapter is really long, but I did not want to split it into two. Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty: From Fear to Eternity (And So NOT A Clip Show)**

While Prue went to talk to Andy and Darryl, Paige went to the basement to turn the hot water back on. She wanted to make sure that there was hot water when she had her shower later and Prue had already suffered from Paige's prank.

Paige made her way down the basement steps. There was that shiver down her spine again that had told her not to enter the basement before. Paige went over to the boiler and switched the hot water back on. After doing this, Paige stood in the middle of the basement and looked around.

Leo had told her never to ignore her instincts. Paige had ignored them earlier because she had been determined to get back at Prue. This time, however, Paige was not in a rush. Something was not right about the basement.

Paige got down on her knees. It was something about the floor. She felt across the floor for any defects in the ground. There was a strangely cold spot just off the centre of the floor.

'Maybe I should call him…' she thought, wondering whether she should talk to Leo about it.

Paige decided against it. She was determined to prove to Leo and to the Elders that she could cope without them. She would keep her eye on the basement. If anything happened, then she would worry.

Suddenly, Paige heard a voice. She did not recognise the voice.

'Your greatest fear…' said the voice. 'You seem to think that it is the Wendigo, but that is wrong. Your greatest fear is to be found out; to be the reason why your sisters have their destiny taken away from them.'

The voice faded away, and Paige got back onto her feet, wondering what that was about. Leo orbed into the room.

Paige jumped. She was not used to seeing Leo orb in after weeks without seeing him.

'I did not call you,' said Paige slowly.

'That is because the Elders told me to come down here,' said Leo. He looked angry.

'What is wrong?' asked Paige.

'You are!' said Leo. 'Why did you not tell me that you were a witch? Why did you not tell me that you were a Charmed One? Why did you not tell me that you were their sister?'

'I… I…' quivered Paige. She did not know what to say. Leo was scaring her. She had never seen him this angry.

'I had to find out from the Elders! The Elders! Paige, do you know how much that embarrasses me?'

'The Elders… They know?' whimpered Paige.

'Yes. They are taking away Prue, Piper, and Phoebe's powers as we speak! You and your sisters will no longer be the Charmed Ones!' said Leo.

'They can't!' said Paige.

Paige heard Prue, Piper, and Phoebe screaming upstairs.

'Oh my gosh! Why won't the demon freeze?' Piper was shouting.

'I don't know!' shouted Prue. 'My telekinesis is not working either!'

There was a crash upstairs and all went silent.

Paige wanted to run up the stairs to help them, but she could not move. Leo sneered at her.

'This is all your fault, Paige,' said Leo. 'All because you were keeping secrets.'

Paige felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around to see Leo standing behind her. Confused, Paige turned back around to where she had previously seen Leo standing. He was no longer there, he was gone. The silence upstairs had ceased too. She could now hear Prue, Andy, and Darryl talking upstairs.

'Are you okay, Paige?' said Leo, looking concerned.

'I don't know…' said Paige. 'Are you mad at me?'

Leo frowned. 'Why would I be? What happened, Paige?'

Paige decided not to mention the hallucination she had just had. It had scared her to bits. She did not want to have to relive it by telling Leo about it. Instead Paige hugged Leo for comfort. After the hug, Leo looked around to see where he had orbed to.

'Why are you in the basement?' asked Leo.

'Why are you here?' asked Paige, ignoring Leo's question. She was starting to regain her composure a little. 'I did not call you and I do not want to fail the Elders' assessment.'

'Paige, I know you did not call for me,' said Leo. 'The Elders sent for me to take you up there. The assessment is over and they would like to tell you the results.'

Paige smiled, and then frowned on thinking that this could be bad news if the Elders had found out about Paige being a Halliwell – If they had, her sisters could lose their powers for real? What had she done? Why was she keeping so many secrets?

'What's with the frown, Paige?' said Leo. 'I managed to speak with one of the Elders. It is all good news. Nothing to worry about.'

Paige looked up as Leo said these words and her smile returned.

'So… Before I do orb you up there, can I know why you are down here?' asked Leo.

Leaving out the part about water pipes and the part about her hallucination, Paige said, 'My instincts tell me there is something wrong down here…'

Leo narrowed his eyes in concentration.

'I can feel it too…' said Leo. Then he added, 'You are not even a witch or a white lighter, yet you have such good instincts.'

Paige smiled, hiding her guilt. Why did Leo always bring up the fact that he thought she was not a witch? Did he secretly know? Or was Paige just noticing him say it more because she felt so worried and guilty? Probably the latter.

'The instincts must have rubbed off from growing up with you,' said Paige.

Leo laughed.

'So do you think we should do something about the basement?' asked Paige.

'There is nothing down here that we can say is evil for sure,' said Leo. 'I will find out what the Elders know, but unless something stirs down here, I do not think we will know what it is.'

'You have got to be kidding me?' said Paige. 'Do the Elders really need evident proof before they will try to prevent something?'

Leo sighed and nodded. 'Paige, try not to get into a rant about the Elders right now, considering you will be speaking to them in a few minutes. It is best not to try and anger them.'

Paige shrugged. 'Why are you so scared of the Elders?'

'I am not,' said Leo. 'I am just respectful.'

Paige giggled. 'I do not think that old saying 'Respect your elders' means those Elders.'

Leo smiled. 'Maybe not Paige, but I am your legal guardian, making me your elder, meaning respect me by respecting them, please.'

Paige rolled her eyes and laughed. 'Sure, except I would not exactly call you my elder. I mean, appearance wise, you are only between five and ten years older than me.'

Leo rolled his eyes and chuckled. 'Come on, Paige. Let's go and find out your results.'

Paige nodded and grabbed Leo's arm.

Leo orbed, with Paige, out of the basement.

* * *

The two of them appeared in the middle of a circular room. Rows of Elders sat around the perimeter of the room. It looked like there were hundreds of them.

Four Elders sat at a raised podium. Paige turned towards these four Elders who addressed her.

'Paige Wyatt?' asked the first Elder.

Paige nodded.

'Speak to confirm, Miss,' said the first Elder sternly.

'Yes. I am Paige Wyatt,' said Paige through gritted teeth.

'Also known as Paige Matthews down there, I presume?' said the first Elder.

'Yes, I am,' said Paige.

Paige noticed that Leo had left her side. She had to face the Elders by herself.

The second Elder on the raised podium spoke up.

'We have been watching you for a while now,' began the second Elder.

Paige gulped. Maybe they had found out about her secret family connection to the Halliwells.

The second Elder continued, 'We are pleased with your work. You have managed to keep your cover well.'

Paige was stunned. How had the Elders been watching her without noticing that the sisters knew who she was?

'What?' said Paige.

The first Elder said harshly, 'Where are your manners, Miss Wyatt?'

Paige composed herself, taking a deep breath to stop herself from snapping at the first Elder.

'Sorry, I was just surprised at the compliment,' said Paige. 'Could you call me 'Miss Matthews'? It helps to keep me used to my cover name, especially with Leo popping into the manor every now and then. I do not want to accidentally look up when one of the sisters says 'Wyatt'. That would blow that secret off the roof.'

The third Elder exclaimed, 'Did you not think you were doing very well at your job then, Miss Matthews?'

'Huh?' said Paige.

Paige ignored the evil look she got from the first Elder for her use of informal language in front of them.

'Miss Matthews, you said that you were not expecting our compliment,' the second Elder said, justifying the third Elder's question.

'Oh that,' said Paige. 'I don't know…'

Paige jumped as a fourth voice spoke up. The fourth Elder on the raised podium had finally joined the discussion.

'Miss Matthews, we have seen you clean up after their mess,' began the fourth Elder. He waved his arm and a screen appeared above their heads. The screen showed a clip from the first time that Paige set foot in Halliwell manor.

'So, Miss Matthews, as your first act as guide to the Halliwells, you decided to stay behind the scenes and clean up the magical mess they had left behind them,' said the fourth Elder.

The third Elder continued, 'For that we are grateful. We have seen too many new white lighters rush straight into action in helping their charges. We realise you are not a white lighter, but we applaud you for remaining behind the scenes.'

Paige nodded. 'I was just doing my job.'

The second Elder said, 'Shall we have a look at the next clip?'

Paige gulped. How many clips did they have? What if they had a clip of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe each finding out that Paige was a witch? What if they had a clip of when Paige found out that the Halliwells were _her _sisters?

The next clip involved the wedding events, including Paige and Isobel's potion making, Paige's invisibility, and Paige saving Prue, while remaining undercover.

The fourth Elder waved his hand. The clip finished.

'Miss Matthews, you saved the life of one of the Charmed Ones. I think that makes up for your reckless behaviour of trying to take down a demon by yourself,' said the fourth Elder. 'If you had not been there to keep an eye on the demons, you would never have been able to have helped Prudence Halliwell. Also you managed to help your charge without blowing your cover. Well done.'

'Thank you,' said Paige.

'From what we understand, you were present at the wedding the next day, but watched from afar while the sisters got on with the vanquishing,' said the second Elder.

Paige nodded.

'I believe our next clip is from the time when the Halliwell's innocent was a girl named Aviva,' said the second Elder.

Paige took a deep breath. The main thing she could recall about that day was what she had done to Phoebe. Did this mean that the Elders knew all about Paige being a witch? Which would also mean that they knew that the Halliwells knew? Were they just waiting to see Paige's reaction before judging her for themselves?

'I can explain…' said Paige.

The first Elder interrupted her. 'Let us show you first, and then _we_ will ask you questions for you to answer.'

The second Elder waved her hand. A new clip began to play.

On the screen: Phoebe was reading the Book of Shadows. She mumbled a spell and was transported into the mirror.

Paige was gobsmacked. This was not what had happened at all.

On the screen: Phoebe soon fell asleep in the mirror. Paige walked into the attic and noticed Phoebe stuck inside the mirror. Paige picked up a phone, ringing Isobel to come to San Francisco as soon as she could.

The third Elder waved his hand to pause the clip.

'Miss Matthews, you noticed that one of the Halliwells had gotten themselves into a magical problem,' said the third Elder. 'Luckily for you, she was asleep when you entered the room. Why did you phone Isobel rather than call Leo for help? I understand that he was in the manor at the time and therefore within closer proximity than Miss Stratton.'

Paige was speechless. What could she say? Somehow the clip of that day had been modified to something completely different. She had to improvise an answer to explain a totally unexpected event that had never actually happened.

Paige said, 'I could not bother my dad because it would have made the other two Halliwell sisters suspicious. Plus if Phoebe woke up to see my dad using magic to release her from the mirror, his cover would have been blown. It did not matter though if Phoebe found out that Isobel was a witch.'

The four Elders nodded.

The first Elder waved his hand for the clip to continue.

On the screen: The clip had cut to Piper pushing Paige out of the attic when Prue, Piper, and Paige realised that Phoebe was possessed.

The second Elder waved her hand. The clip paused.

'Could you confirm to us why Piper Halliwell pushed you out of the attic?' said the second Elder.

Paige nodded. 'Prue and Piper could tell that Phoebe was possessed and because I was undercover, Piper pushed me out to stop me from seeing their attempt at vanquishing the demon that possessed Phoebe. I made sure to stay just outside the room and listen in to make sure that their spell went alright.'

The first Elder cut in, 'That was the night where we noticed a change in the Power of Three spell. Do you know what it was?'

'If you have clips, can you not figure it out?' said Paige, trying to figure out how the earlier clip had managed to change.

'We may be Elders but we are not omniscient,' said the first Elder grumpily. 'We do not see everything.'

'Then how did you see what I did at the manor, the wedding, and the attic in those clips?' asked Paige.

'We used magic, Paige,' said the second Elder. 'However, some magic disrupts our magic. One of which is the Power of Three spell. Therefore, we were unable to get a picture of the Halliwells saving their sister.'

'Do you always use magic to watch over everyone?' asked Paige.

'No, we never do,' said the third Elder. 'We only did it as we were assessing you.'

'No, the assessment started after Leo left,' said Paige. 'He was still there back then.'

'No, no. We were assessing you from the very beginning. We asked Leo to leave after a while in order to assess how you managed by yourself,' said the fourth Elder.

Paige nodded in understanding.

'I believe the next clip should refer to the time when the Charmed Ones were black mailed by two warlocks,' said the second Elder.

The second Elder waved her hand and the clip began to play.

On the screen: Paige ran into the attic, stopping Leo from reversing the spell in the Book.

The first Elder waved his hand to pause the screen.

'Why were you interrupting Leo? He was doing a job for us and you got in his way!' said the first Elder.

'I did not interrupt him! I was giving him more information on what was happening,' said Paige.

The second Elder nodded. 'Leo needed that extra information to help explain why the Book of Shadows was not empty.'

'That extra information did not provide us with an answer though,' said the first Elder. 'We are still clueless as to why the relinquishment spell did not cause the pages of the Book of Shadows to empty.'

Paige gulped. She knew why. Obviously she was not going to tell them.

The third Elder waved his hand and the clip continued.

On the screen: Leo orbed out of the attic. Paige fell to the floor. Leo orbed back five minutes later, looking concerned at seeing Paige on the floor.

The fourth Elder waved his hand, pausing the clip.

'You saw the future, Miss Matthews?' the fourth Elder queried.

'Er,' hesitated Paige, trying to think back to the excuse she had given Leo. 'No. Growing up with a white lighter has given me good instincts. That was me honing in on my instincts. I may not be magical, but Leo has taught me well. I had been spending so much time with the sisters that I was able to tell that they were in trouble.'

'A non-magical being could never get instincts that good,' said the first Elder unconvinced.

'How can we know?' said the second Elder. 'Paige is the only non-magical being to have been raised by a white lighter that we know of. Maybe it is possible for a white lighter to teach a human the more mindset abilities such as intuition.'

The second Elder was about to wave her hand to let the screen begin playing another clip when the first Elder stopped her.

'I think we have had enough clips,' said the first Elder. 'We know that when Piper Halliwell turned into a Wendigo, you were able to use previous knowledge to help them without blowing your cover.'

Once again, Paige pulled a face. What channel had the Elders been watching? Yes, Paige had managed to give Piper more information about the Wendigo, but that was because Paige told her up front.

'Can I see this clip?' asked Paige.

'You were there,' said the second Elder.

'Yes… I know…' said Paige. 'I just want to see your take on it while watching it…'

'This is highly unnecessary,' grumbled the first Elder.

The second Elder waved her hand and the clip began to play.

On the screen: Paige was sitting by the bar in Quake, talking to Piper. Piper looked extremely ill. Paige was trying to persuade Piper to go home because she looked ill. A time lapse in the clip suddenly occurred, cutting to Piper and Paige back at the manor.

Paige was surprised by this. How did the Elders manage to miss anything that revealed to them that Paige was a witch or that Paige was a Halliwell sister, or anything relating to the sleep travelling issues she had been having back then?

On the screen: The screen had cut to Paige in the attic, adding a note to a piece of paper on how to cure Piper. Paige put the piece of paper on top of the Wendigo page in the Book of Shadows, closing the Book so as the piece of paper acted as a bookmark. Paige left the attic. There was a time lapse. As it grew dark, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe entered the attic and quickly found the cure in the Book thanks to Paige's anonymous note. Prue and Phoebe restrained Piper and left the attic. Soon Piper turned into the Wendigo. When this happened, Paige returned to the attic and acting quickly, placed some crystals around Piper so as she could not escape and hurt anyone.

The first Elder waved his hand, pausing the screen.

Paige was utterly gobsmacked. Who was interfering with what the Elders saw of life with the Charmed Ones? Who was helping to keep Paige's secret by making sure the Elders saw completely different things happen?

'Another dangerous move, Miss Matthews,' said the first Elder. 'You decided all of a sudden that you should approach a Wendigo without any way of protecting yourself.'

'It was not just a Wendigo, it was Piper!' said Paige. 'I had to help her.'

'Don't listen to his disapproval, Miss Matthews,' said the second Elder. 'It was a smart move. You knew that she had escaped and acted quickly to avoid her getting out of the manor. You also knew that she would not remember you trapping her when she turned back to normal.'

Paige nodded. Due to half of these clips being completely fake, she had to improvise a lot. The Elders giving her their analysis of the clips was helping her to come up with quick answers for these completely faked clips.

'Now, Miss Matthews, we go on to an event that occurred more recently,' said the third Elder.

'This event involved the Charmed Ones being even more secretative around you about their magical lives,' continued the fourth Elder. 'We are not too sure why, maybe they became suspicious of you getting close to finding out their secret as they have as much of a secret to protect as you do.'

'You just love making people keep secrets from each other, don't you?' mumbled Paige.

'Miss Matthews! Respect your Elders!' shouted the first Elder.

Paige stifled a giggle, remembering the conversation about that phrase that she had had with Leo before she had turned up here.

The fourth Elder continued, 'However we noticed that you were having trouble trying to keep track of their demonic situations. For example, the case with the Maximus demon.'

Paige was listening to the Elders with apt focus again. Whoever had corrupted what the Elders had seen had managed to hide the Halliwells' real reasons for keeping things from Paige.

The third Elder waved his hand and a clip began to play on the screen.

On the screen: Paige was entering the manor with bags of groceries as the Halliwells ran past her. In this edited version, Paige did not drop her bags. The sisters left Paige without explanation. Paige walked into the manor and found the conservatory in a state. She looked at the open page of the Book of Shadows: the Maximus demon.

'Pause it and rewind,' said Paige.

The second Elder waved her hand to pause the clip. 'Rewind it?'

'Yes,' said Paige. 'I want to see the initial fight between the Halliwells and the Maximus demon.'

'We are the ones who decide what clips to show you,' said the first Elder.

'I was not there to see the fight,' said Paige. 'I want to know what happened.'

There was a quick discussion between the four Elders before they turned back to Paige.

'Miss Matthews,' said the fourth Elder. 'We shall let you see what occurred.'

The fourth Elder waved his hand and the screen began to play.

On the screen: Prue was sitting in the conservatory, reading the newspaper. Suddenly the Maximus demon shimmered in. Prue jumped up and telekinetically threw it across the room before it could attack, knocking it into the chairs. The Maximus demon got up and picked up a chair throwing it in Prue's direction. The chair froze before it hit Prue. Piper had entered the room and joined the fight. Prue squinted at the frozen chair and it went flying at the Maximus demon. Phoebe entered the conservatory. The Maximus demon was not fazed by the chair and ran straight for Phoebe. The demon grabbed Phoebe, but released her when Prue telekinetically threw the demon at the window. The demon smashed through the glass into the back garden. Piper helped Phoebe up and the three sisters stood together as the demon shimmered back into the conservatory uninjured and still determined. Before Piper could freeze the demon, it had already shimmered away, appearing behind Piper, knocking her to the floor with one blow to the head. Prue squinted at the demon, throwing it across the room again. While Phoebe helped Piper get back up slowly, Prue kept telekinetically throwing furniture at the demon. The demon shimmered out. Prue rushed to her middle sister to help her stand up. Piper pushed her sisters away in an attempt to tell them that she was fine and to stop hassling her. Phoebe left the conservatory, returning a minute later with the Book of Shadows. The sisters searched through it and found the page about the Maximus demon. They dropped the Book on the only piece of furniture that was still standing upright and ran out of the conservatory into the kitchen.

The second Elder waved her hand, stopping the clip.

'Would you care to explain to us why you wanted to see this?' asked the second Elder.

Paige was stunned. When putting the events of this clip together with Prue's decision to lie to her, Paige was starting to see Prue's side of the story.

Prue was the only one out of the four sisters with offensive powers. With no active powers, Phoebe could not help when demons attacked. Piper had an active power though, and sure her freezing power worked well in defence, but when she was down for the count Prue was left to protect both Piper and Phoebe. And then there was the addition of Paige. She had no powers at all. She would just be another sister that Prue would have to protect when facing the demons…

* * *

**A/N:** The moment with Barbas targeting Paige was the bit at the beginning of this chapter with the fake Leo and fake Prue/Piper/Phoebe deaths. The unknown corruptor who manipulated the clips will be revealed in the next chapter.


	31. FFearTEternity (And Back To Apologies)

**A/N: **Good guesses as to who the unknown corruptor may be. All will be revealed by the end of this chapter. And I forgot all about that issue in _The Honeymoon's Over_. In this case, I am basing the timings on the fact that it never takes Leo too long to orb up there and back with answers from the Elders, so the length of time Paige is up there for will be the same amount of time that has passed for Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty One: From Fear to Eternity (And Back To Apologies)**

'Miss Matthews?' said the second Elder, interrupting Paige's thought pattern.

Paige looked at the second Elder. 'Sorry, could you repeat your question?'

The first Elder shook his head in anger at Paige's lack of focus.

'I asked why you wanted to see that clip,' said the second Elder.

'Oh yeah,' said Paige. 'Well, as you have already said, the Halliwells had been keeping things from me. I needed to see that clip to get more of their perspective. It has helped. A lot.'

The second Elder nodded while the first Elder scowled.

'Of course they would be keeping things from you,' said the first Elder. 'They do not know you know their secret!'

Paige went silent and nodded. Whoever had corrupted the clips had helped Paige and the Halliwells for a reason. She was not going to let slip to the Elders about the things they did not know. Mainly because she did not want them to find out, not just because of the unknown corruptor's efforts.

'We are now nearing the end of your assessment, Miss Matthews,' said the third Elder.

'After going through all of what we have seen,' said the fourth Elder. 'We have come to a decision.'

'We are going to be granting you a power, Miss Matthews,' said the second Elder.

'Really? Thank you!' said Paige. She had never thought she would ever say those two words to the Elders in her life, but here she was saying those two words now.

'Don't get your hopes up too high,' said the first Elder. 'We are not granting you the power at this very moment in time. We will have Leo bring you back here when we are ready to grant you the power.'

Paige nodded. 'Could you at least tell me what it is?'

'No,' said the first Elder directly.

Paige nodded. She felt it was pointless to argue.

The four Elders had gone silent and Paige felt her presence was no longer welcome.

'Should I be calling Leo to orb me back to the manor?' asked Paige.

'No, not just yet,' said the second Elder.

'Why not? Are you not finished with me?' asked Paige.

'We are finished talking to you,' said the third Elder. 'However we cannot have you interfering with the Charmed Ones right now. Especially with the demon they are battling.'

'Say what now? What demon?' asked Paige with surprise and concern.

Paige knew Prue had been keeping another demon attack secret from her, but she had forgotten about it while being assessed by the Elders. If the Elders were not letting her go down to help the Charmed Ones, did it mean the demon was bad?

'It is the demon Barbas,' said the second Elder. 'The demon of fear that appears once every thirteen hundred years is back.'

'Why did none of you remind me of this?' shouted Paige. Out of nowhere her temper had returned and she was angry at the Elders.

'Need I remind you about minding your manners, Miss Matthews?' shouted the first Elder.

'I am not going to apologise,' said Paige. 'If you knew that they were in trouble, why did you not just get Leo to remind me about Barbas? I have known this date has been coming for a while, but I forgot at the most inopportune time! I knew there was something I was forgetting! Plus why schedule my assessment hearing for now? You could have gotten Leo to tell me so as I could have figured out a way to help them!'

'Miss Matthews, we did not want you to get in the way of the Charmed Ones for this battle,' said the second Elder.

'Why not?' asked Paige. 'My role is to guide them and make sure they are safe, is it not?'

'Yes,' said the second Elder. 'However we realised that the Charmed Ones may be able to defeat Barbas. The only way to allow them to do that would be to stop you from interfering.'

'Like I would ever agree to not interfering! They are my…' Paige managed to stop herself from saying 'sisters' and quickly substituted in 'friends. I am extremely close to them and will stop at nothing to help them. To protect them.'

'Which is exactly why we made your assessment hearing now,' said the first Elder stubbornly.

Paige was angry.

'Dad! Dad! Get here now! Dad! Leo!'

'He will not answer your call, Miss Matthews,' said the fourth Elder. 'He knows that we wanted you out of the way for this battle.'

'He was part of this?' shouted Paige. 'He knew all about this? Was this assessment even real or was it just a ploy?'

'Miss Matthews, the assessment was real,' said the second Elder. 'The timing of your hearing was the only part that was changed to coincide with keeping you away from the Charmed Ones.'

Paige took a deep breath to calm herself a little. She tried to think through the day's events clearly.

'Barbas is the demon of fear?' said Paige.

'Yes,' confirmed the third Elder.

'So the heart attacks in the area…' began Paige.

'Witches who had been scared to death by Barbas,' finished the third Elder.

'Had he made any attempts on the Charmed Ones before you brought me up here?' asked Paige, worried at what the answer might be.

'Yes,' said the second Elder. 'He made an attempt on Prudence Halliwell.'

Paige's jaw dropped. 'Where was I when this happened?'

'Miss Matthews, we do not know all the details,' said the first Elder grumpily. 'We do not track you every second of your life.'

'So you wouldn't have a clip?' asked Paige.

'Of course not!' shouted the first Elder. 'We only had those clips because we had used magic to watch over you for your assessment. We do sometimes look out for the Charmed Ones, but the point of our white lighters – or, in this case, you and sometimes Leo – is for them to look out for their charges so as we do not have to keep our eyes on witches the whole time. We have work to do up here too!'

Paige was hardly listening to the grumpy Elder's rant. She was trying to figure out when Prue had come face to face with Barbas. Then it clicked. Piper had said that Prue was frightened of drowning, which meant that she did not like water. Prue had screamed while in the shower that day. Paige had mistaken it at the time for being Prue's reaction to Paige's cold water prank, but now that she knew about Barbas… that explained Prue's utter speechlessness on leaving the bathroom. If Andy had not decided to go into the bathroom, would Barbas have finished the job and killed Prue?

Paige may have good instincts generally, but they must have been clouded by her annoyance with Prue. Fortunately Andy's love for Prue had kept his own instincts in tact.

Paige thought more about the day. There had been that moment when she had had the hallucination. Leo and the Elders finding out how she was connected to the Halliwells, the Charmed Ones losing their powers… Paige's greatest fear… Barbas had targeted her too. If Leo had not orbed in at the right time, she would have probably been dead by now.

Paige tried to take her mind off that thought, so she thought back to her sisters, who could be in danger right this very second.

'Is it at least possible to get up on that screen what is happening right now?' asked Paige.

The four Elders exchanged glances. There was a murmuring all around Paige from the other Elders sitting in rows of seats along the room's perimeter.

The second Elder was the first to reply. 'We do not usually do this, but since they are your charges, you deserve to be able to observe what is going on.'

The second Elder gave a nod to the fourth Elder. The fourth Elder muttered a spell under his breath and clicked his fingers. A new clip appeared on the screen. Unlike all the previous clips, this one was live.

On the screen: The clip followed Prue as she walked through the front gate of a house. 3112 Napa Street was visible on a sign on the gate. Prue walked into the back garden where there was a pool. She spotted Phoebe with tape over her mouth and her hands tied to her back. Barbas stood there too.

Paige watched in terror as Prue was forced into the water by Barbas.

'She is going to drown!' shouted Paige. 'You are Elders! You have powers! Help her!'

'Miss Matthews, the Charmed Ones are the only ones with the power to defeat him,' said the third Elder.

'Can you not see that Prue is drowning? All you are doing is forcing Phoebe to watch as her own sister drowns! You are torturing the two of them!' shouted Paige.

'Miss Matthews, calm down,' said the second Elder. 'The Charmed Ones can defeat Barbas.'

'Piper is not even there! They do not have the Power of Three with them!' shouted Paige. 'How can you keep saying they will defeat him?'

'We are not referring to the Power of Three,' said the fourth Elder. 'We are referring to the strength of the eldest Halliwell. Her strength is all that is needed to defeat him.'

On the screen: Prue had just gotten out of the water and Barbas looked stunned. Prue squinted at Barbas, causing him to fly across the garden. Barbas got up and suddenly burst into flames.

The fourth Elder clicked his fingers and the screen went blank.

'Did we not tell you, Miss Matthews, that Prudence Halliwell was strong enough to do it herself?' said the fourth Elder.

'You are free to go now,' said the second Elder.

Leo had orbed to Paige's side.

'We will let you know when we are ready to grant you with your power,' said the first Elder.

'Keep up the good work,' said the second Elder.

Leo orbed Paige into the manor's basement.

'I thought it would be best to orb you here rather than to the living room. You never know who is going to be home when you orb down here from up there,' Leo chuckled.

'You kept this from me,' said Paige angrily.

'I am sorry, Paige,' said Leo. 'The Elders knew that Prue could do it. They also knew that you care about the sisters so much that you could easily have gotten in the way.'

Paige shook her head. 'It just felt wrong to watch from up there while Barbas attacked them. I felt so helpless.'

'Paige, there would have been nothing you could have done to help them if you were down here,' said Leo.

'Are you saying that people without powers are inadequate?' said Paige smiling.

'No. Paige, I would _never_ think that,' said Leo seriously. 'Being powerless is not a bad thing. You have knowledge that the sisters don't have. That is where you fit into all of this. Everyone has their own ability, magical or not.'

Paige sighed, but nodded. Leo always had his principles and this was one of them. That was one reason why he was so good at being a white lighter.

* * *

Paige sat with Leo for a while, ignoring the bad feeling she was getting from the basement. Paige told Leo about what had been discussed in the hearing. In turn, Leo told Paige about how he had quickly come to a dead end on trying to find out whether there was any evil to worry about in the basement. The Elders he had spoken to had immediately voided Leo's attempts to suggest evil when he had been unable to provide any proof.

Their conversation stopped when Leo suddenly looked up at the ceiling.

'Who's calling you?' asked Paige, recognising the expression on Leo's face.

'A charge in Paris is in trouble,' said Leo. 'I will leave you here with the Halliwells.'

'The Halliwells are still your charges too, right?' asked Paige.

'Of course, Paige,' said Leo. 'The Elders would never agree to let you look after the most powerful witches of this generation by yourself.'

'Good,' said Paige. 'I think you are the best choice of white lighter for them.'

'Don't be so modest, Paige. You have been doing a good job in my absence,' said Leo.

'Maybe, but I am not a white lighter,' said Paige.

Leo stood up and said, 'I really need to go now. See you soon.'

'Bye,' said Paige.

Leo orbed out.

* * *

Paige left the basement. She heard voices coming from the living room. All three sisters were home.

As Paige approached the entrance to the living room she bumped into Prue who had been on her way out.

'Hi,' said Prue unemotionally.

'Prue, I am sorry,' said Paige.

Prue looked absolutely surprised. 'Did I just hear you right?'

'Yes,' said Paige. 'I have come to my senses.'

'No, Paige. You should not be apologising. Or at least, I should be partially to blame,' said Prue.

'No, Prue. I am the one to blame fully,' said Paige.

'No, Paige – Hang on, are we going to argue over who is right to apologise?' laughed Prue.

'Oh gosh, I hope not,' laughed Paige.

Prue and Paige hugged, forgiving each other.

Prue signalled for Paige to follow her as she went up the stairs.

'I was on my way up to check the Book of Shadows for something. There is an entry from mum about the demon…' Prue stopped. 'Paige, I did not tell you about…'

'Barbas,' finished Paige. 'I know. The Elders made me watch him try to drown you in the pool. How delightful are the Elders? Don't worry about not telling me about Barbas. Apparently the Elders did not want me to know.'

They had reached Prue's bedroom where the Book of Shadows was still on her bed.

'Oh?' said Prue. 'Still I should have told you.'

The two sisters sat on Prue's bed as Prue looked for the page about Barbas.

'I understand why you did not tell me now,' said Paige. 'Phoebe has no active powers. Piper can only use hers in defence. Your telekinesis is the strongest of all your powers. You have enough trouble trying to keep them two safe without me – the completely powerless sister – wandering into the mix.'

'Paige, who are you and what have the Elders done with my sister?' joked Prue.

Prue continued to turn the pages of the Book.

'Seriously, Prue, I may have no active powers, but I have magical knowledge that can help you three,' said Paige. 'Please keep me in the loop.'

'Okay,' said Prue, looking at Paige. 'That won't stop me feeling responsible for you though.'

'If it helps, the Elders are going to be granting me a power soon for the good work I have been doing in guiding you three,' said Paige smiling.

'That is amazing, Paige!' said Prue.

Prue had found the page in the Book of Shadows about Barbas.

'That is mum's handwriting,' Prue said to Paige, pointing at the entry about Barbas.

'Her writing was so beautiful,' said Paige.

Prue nodded.

Suddenly words appeared on the page: 'Thank you for letting them into your heart.'

Paige saw Prue smile when she read this.

'I miss you, mum,' Prue said softly.

Then another sentence appeared on beneath that: 'Dearest Paige: By now you have realised that someone is protecting your Halliwell secret, keeping it hidden from the Elders. Now that the four of you are reunited, I will not allow the Elders to tear you apart. Love Mum.'

As soon as Paige had read it, this paragraph vanished from the page.

'What was that about?' asked Prue.

Paige told Prue all about the assessment hearing and the clips – some of which had been manipulated to hide their secret. Paige told Prue that the paragraph was their mum letting Paige know that she was the one who had cast a spell to interfere with what the Elders saw.

Paige left Prue to have a rest and went to the living room where Piper and Phoebe were having a conversation.

'Hey Paige!' said Phoebe as Paige came in.

'Hi there,' said Paige. 'You and Prue had a tough day today.'

'Did I miss a lot today?' asked Piper, an expression of surprise on her face.

'What do you mean, Piper? Prue and I already told you everything that happened about Barbas…' said Phoebe.

'Not that, silly,' said Piper laughing. 'No one told me that Paige was on talking terms with us again.'

Phoebe and Paige laughed. Piper seemed to always be the last to find things out these days (excluding the Paige-is-actually-our-sister incident).

* * *

**A/N:**. _From Fear to Eternity_ turned out to be more of a filler than anything of real importance to the major plotline stuff of this alternate season one.


	32. Secrets And Guys (And Coffees With Pies)

**A/N:** About the game between Phoebe and Paige: I did not make this game up, I do not claim it as my own game. I changed it slightly as the original was not using a person's name, but the name of an item.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Two: Secrets And Guys (And Coffees With Pies)**

Phoebe and Paige were having coffee at their local café.

'Aren't we supposed to be getting back to the manor to help Prue and Piper with the spring cleaning?' asked Paige.

Phoebe shrugged and laughed. 'They can either wait a little longer for us or start without us.'

Paige giggled at Phoebe's reply before taking a sip from her cup of coffee.

'Where do you think our pies are?' said Paige. 'We ordered them twenty minutes ago.'

'Are you really in that much of a rush to go and clean the manor?' said Phoebe.

'Well, Prue and Piper wanted to clear some stuff from the attic and as I basically live in the attic I feel responsible to help,' said Paige. 'Plus it will be great having you guys tell me which family member the antiques up there belonged to. Also you can show me the toys you played with as kids.'

Phoebe looked at Paige. 'Paige, we wish as much as you do that you had been there when we grew up… We would have loved to have grown up with you.'

Paige nodded.

'Don't worry, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'I really doubt Prue would start without us. She would be adamant about waiting for us. Prue's task will be to stop Piper from starting without us.'

Paige laughed. 'Piper does have her strange habits. She is the only person I know that likes to clean.'

'I have just thought of a game that me, Prue, and Piper used to play as kids,' said Phoebe. 'Want to try the game right now?'

Paige looked confused. 'A game? In the middle of a café?'

'The point of this particular game is for it to be played in a public place,' said Phoebe.

Now Paige looked worried. 'What sort of game did you three plays as kids?'

Phoebe laughed. 'Really, Paige. I don't know what you are thinking. Basically, the aim of this game is to shout a word louder than the other player. It must be done in a public place. You start off quietly, and take it in turns, each player saying it louder than the previous player.'

'Okay… I think I understand the aim,' said Paige. 'What is the word?'

'When we used to play this game… we used to use the names of boys that we liked,' said Phoebe. 'The point of the game is for it to be embarrassing.'

Phoebe had a wicked grin on her face.

'Oh no, we are not shouting 'Wilson' in the middle of a café,' said Paige.

'Wilson,' said Phoebe at a relatively low level.

'Clay,' said Paige at a slightly higher level than Phoebe.

'We do not usually alternate names like that, but okay, I will play it your way,' said Phoebe. Then at a higher volume, she said 'Wilson.'

'Clay!' said Paige.

'Wilson!' said Phoebe.

People from surrounding tables were giving them funny looks now.

'Clay!' shouted Paige.

Paige heard two plates smash to the floor right next to her. She looked up to see the waitress had dropped two plates of pie on the floor.

'Oh, I am sorry,' said Paige. 'I did not mean to make you jump! We will pay for those pies. You don't have to bring more out. Just bring us the bill, please.'

'Wilson!' shouted Phoebe as the waitress walked away to get a broom and the bill.

'Clay!' shouted Paige.

'I cannot believe you taught her that game, Pheebs.'

Phoebe and Paige looked up to see Prue and Piper standing by the table.

'Hey Prue. Hi Piper,' said Paige, blushing.

'I thought we were supposed to be spring cleaning the manor,' said Prue.

'We were just finishing up our coffees,' said Paige.

'Andy!' shouted Phoebe.

'I am not joining in with the game, Phoebe,' said Prue.

Paige smirked and shouted 'Andy!' even louder than Phoebe.

'Paige, not you too,' said Piper.

Paige heard Phoebe giggle as she shouted even louder 'Leo!'

Piper scowled. 'Phoebe! I never liked this game when we were little! Please don't do this to me!'

The waitress put the bill on the table and began to mop up the broken plates and mushy pie.

'You never liked it because it is embarrassing, but that is the point of the game,' laughed Phoebe. 'Come on, Paige, or Prue, or Piper. One of you has to go next.'

The three sisters looked at Phoebe. Realising they were not going to carry on, Phoebe said, 'Leo! Leo! Leo!' getting louder with each 'Leo!'

Paige smiled. Unlike her sisters, Paige knew that Leo, as a white lighter, would be able to hear these calls. She wondered whether he had secretly orbed into the vicinity at all to check whether everything was okay.

'Shut up, Pheebs,' said Prue.

Paige paid the bill and the four sisters left the café.

* * *

Back at the manor, the sisters were moving around boxes in the attic while Prue was using telekinesis to dust the furniture. Ignoring the possible personal gain consequences, she continued to tidy the attic in this way. The three Halliwells were finding so many toys from when they were little. Paige felt a little left out. Then they came across Phoebe's diary. Prue and Piper started laughing about how Phoebe could not keep secrets.

'Phoebe, you could never keep a secret,' said Piper.

'That is so not true,' said Phoebe.

'Er, Phoebe, how about my secret that you were supposed to keep?' asked Paige.

'The one about you being a witch? I told you I was no good at secrets…' said Phoebe.

'Ha! You admitted it!' laughed Prue.

The subject got changed back to the toys and whether they should be kept for their children. Prue became obstinate about giving her old toys away because she was sure she would never have kids.

They decided not to make the decision just yet and left it to that.

* * *

While the Halliwells scattered to do their own things in the manor, Paige decided it was time to take her car to get fixed. It was still lacking a door, a headrest and needed the locking system fixing.

Paige got into her car and made her way to the auto shop. Fortunately she passed no police cars on the way. She was sure that if she had, they would have pulled her over due to the state of her car.

Paige parked outside the auto shop and went into the reception. There was no one at the desk.

Paige heard a car screech to a halt outside. She heard two male voices. Paige heard one of the garage doors being opened and shut. Whoever these people were, they had just gone into the back area of the auto shop (the garage) where the cars were fixed up.

Paige waited at the reception desk for a couple more minutes. Knowing that they were out back, Paige decided to go through the doors that led from the reception to the garage area, ignoring the 'Staff Only' sign.

As Paige entered, she saw the two men talking in the back corner of the garage while a gagged, tied up little boy sat by their feet.

'I don't believe in magic,' said one of the two men.

The other man said, 'So we test him out…'

The other man had stopped because the first man was staring over the second man's shoulder directly at Paige. The second man turned around to see Paige standing there too.

Paige was speechless. What's more, she felt too terrified to run.

The men approached Paige.

Paige found her voice and some courage, saying 'Let that kid go.'

'Why should we do as you say?' asked the first man.

'Yeah, what are you going to do about it?' said the second man.

'I would say go to the cops, but I presume you are not going to let me leave,' said Paige.

The second man nodded to confirm Paige's fear.

The men tied Paige up and made her sit down next to the little boy.

The men left the garage area to discuss things in their office. From their office, they could still see Paige and the boy, but they could not hear them talk.

'So what's your name?' asked Paige, trying to start up a conversation.

The men had removed the gag from the little boy's mouth so he was able to talk.

'Max,' said the little boy quietly. 'What's yours?'

'Paige,' said Paige. 'Don't worry, Max. My sisters will find me and get us out of this.'

Max smiled weakly.

'Do you have any idea why they kidnapped you?' asked Paige.

Max nodded. 'They want to use my power for their crimes.'

'Power?' said Paige. Then she remembered hearing one of the men mentioning the word 'magic'. 'What is your power, Max?'

'I don't know… I can make objects move without looking at them,' said Max.

'That sounds like Prue's telekinesis,' thought Paige. Except Prue needed to know what it was that she was moving.

'Sounds like psychokinesis,' said Paige. 'Cool power, Max.'

'That's what my mum used to call it,' said Max.

Max did not smile. Paige sighed, remembering the situation they were in.

'Those idiots kidnapped you to exploit your powers? Don't worry. I won't let them use you like that,' said Paige.

'How can you stop them? Do you have powers too?' asked Max.

'No…' said Paige. 'My sisters do though. It won't take them long to find out that I am missing and then they will come and find me.'

Paige was trying to convince herself more than Max. Her sisters knew that Paige was quite independent, so she did not know how long she could be absent before they would start worrying.

* * *

After hearing their conversations, Paige had found that their kidnapper's names were Mickey and David.

The day went on with David walking back and forth between the office, the garage, and the reception. It looked like he was running the garage as if it was an average day, as if he did not have two hostages tied up. Mickey was nowhere to be seen.

When Mickey returned, he drove his car into the garage. David picked Max up and put him in the car.

'What about her?' Mickey asked David, indicating Paige.

''Her' has a name,' said Paige irritably.

'Quiet, you,' said David.

''Her' has a name and it is not 'you'. Come on guys, have some class,' said Paige, purposefully trying to get on their nerves.

'Should we take her with?' said Mickey.

'No,' said David. 'I cannot stand to hear another insult from that girl.'

'How can you be complaining about me being rude?' laughed Paige. 'You are the ones who kidnapped a harmless kid and a wo –'

Paige was interrupted by David putting tape around her mouth.

'That will shut her up,' laughed David.

Paige watched as Mickey and David got in the car, and drove away with Max in the back.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the car returned to the garage. Mickey and David got out of the car. Mickey led Max back to sit in the corner next to Paige. Paige noticed that Max's mouth was also covered with tape.

Paige tried to shout at the two kidnappers but her speech came out muffled. That tape sure was effective.

Mickey drove off. David ripped the tape from Max's mouth.

'I cannot believe that your powers really worked, kid,' said David. 'We have another use for you tomorrow.'

David sneered before wandering into his office for a nap.

Paige looked at Max. She could tell he was scared. Paige felt so annoyed that she could not help him.

Paige tried to ask Max what they had made him do but her words came out too muffled to understand what she was saying through the tape. However, Max got the gist of what Paige was trying to say.

'They made me switch off some security panel so they could break into some building and steal something without setting off the alarms,' said Max.

'Muh mymh merhm,' were Paige's muffled words in reply to this.

Max just continued along his line of thought by saying, 'They shot a security guard.'

'Merh morrm merhm merhm!' was Paige's muffled shout at hearing this.

Although her hands were tied, Paige attempted unsuccessfully to pat Max on the back for comfort. No little boy should have to witness that. No little boy should be put in this situation in the first place.

Paige and Max heard the door that separated the reception from the garage burst open. As she knew that David was in the office, she expected this to be Mickey returning. She could not see from her place on the floor who had come through the door, but the voice she heard was female.

'Max?' said the voice.

Paige recognised the voice. It was Prue!

'Moo!' Paige shouted from behind the tape, obviously very muffled. Her shout was no more than a whisper as she could not raise her voice from beneath the tape.

'Who's there?' said Max.

Prue ran over to the corner of the garage. She stopped in shock to see Paige there.

'Paige?' said Prue.

'Moo,' said Paige through the tape.

Prue squinted at the tape and it ripped from Paige's mouth.

'Ouch!' said Paige.

'What are you doing here, Paige?' Prue asked between comforting words to Max about how she was going to get him out of there.

Prue was attempting to untie Max when Paige noticed Mickey appear in the doorway.

'Prue! Look out!' shouted Paige.

Mickey approached Prue at a run. Prue stood up and pushed him back with her telekinesis. The noise must have woken David up, because he came running out of the office. Prue saw this and threw David across the room with her telekinesis.

'Come on, we need to hurry,' Prue said to Max as she finished untying him.

Prue turned to Paige and started to untie her.

'You said your sisters had powers,' Max said to Paige, smiling.

'Yeah, I did,' said Paige as Prue fumbled at the rope around Paige's hands. 'I told you they would come. You must be special, Max. By the sounds of it, Prue came for you, not for me.'

Prue laughed. 'You can thank the spirit board for that. Paige, I did not know you were missing. I am so sorry.'

'Prue, I understand. It has not even been a whole day since I left the manor yet,' said Paige. 'Besides, if there ever was a game of locate-the-innocent, I think I won, as I beat you to finding Max.'

'Yeah, but you found him by mistake,' laughed Prue. She grimaced as she tried to undo the rope. 'These knots are tricky. Max run to my car while I free Paige. My car is the only one out there. You will notice it right away.'

'Hang on, your car is the only one out there?' said Paige. Then she added rhetorically (and tetchily), 'What have they done to my car then?'

'I can't leave,' whimpered Max. 'They'll kill my dad if I do.'

Paige did not notice until the very last second that Mickey was right behind Prue. He hit Prue, knocking her to the ground, unconscious.

'Prue!' shouted Paige.

'Kid, don't move,' Mickey said to Max.

David had recovered too and walked back over to them.

'You tie her up while I retie up the kid,' said Mickey.

David nodded.

While Mickey tied Max back up and David tied Prue up, Paige was hurling insults at the two men.

'I think someone needs tape put on their mouth again!' said David irritably.

David slumped Prue's tied up unconscious body next to Paige. Then he found some tape and stuck it back over Paige's mouth.

'Mernthm! Mynm!' Paige shouted.

Paige watched in horror as the two men attached explosives to Max.

'Merhh!' shouted Paige. She could not believe just how selfish and wicked these men were. What made it all worse to watch was that they were humans, not demons, yet they seemed to lack any guilt.

* * *

Twenty minutes or so later, Mickey decided to shake Prue awake.

'Mem momf mer!' shouted Paige which was supposed to be 'Get off her!'

'Shut up,' said David. 'You are giving me a headache.'

Prue became conscious and the first thing she did was to ask Max if he was okay.

Max shook his head.

Mickey rolled his eyes and said, 'He's fine.'

Mickey pointed out the explosives on Max, and began to explain how Prue should not attempt any escape plans with her magic unless she wanted them to blow Max up.

David left the room. His expression showed some guilt for what they were doing.

Mickey knelt down so as he was level with Prue, Paige, and Max, ignoring Prue's suggestions to put the explosives on her instead.

'What is it with the two of you? What are you, like magicians or freaks of nature? Aliens? What?' asked Mickey.

Mickey had directed the question to Prue and Max. Paige was annoyed at this. Just because she had no powers he was not going to consider her one of them?

'Witches,' said Prue.

Mickey laughed before leaving the garage area.

Prue turned to Max to ask him whether he was okay. They had a small conversation about how Max was scared and Prue told him not to be sorry about his powers, it was not his fault.

'Moo! Mernnh!' Paige said to remind her sister that she was still there too. Paige did not like being silenced. She always had something to say.

'Sorry, Paige. I know you know that I could telekinetically take that tape off of you, but those two morons might think it is part of an escape plan and decide to detonate the explosives,' said Prue. 'I cannot risk that happening.'

Paige nodded. Prue was right. They could not risk an innocent's life like that.

It had been a few hours since Mickey or David had last spoken to their three hostages. It was getting dark outside so the lights in the garage were now switched on.

Paige listened as Prue and Max discussed being witches. Prue then got onto the topic of her family. It was getting quite emotional. As Paige could not be part of the conversation (due to being gagged), she felt awkward listening in on it, but it was not like she could just walk away considering she was tied up.

Mickey and David entered the garage area.

'Okay, you two,' said Mickey, referring to Prue and Max. 'We have a little job for you.'

'We don't need this one hearing it, do we?' said David, pointing at Paige.

Mickey shook his head.

'Good,' said David. He knocked Paige unconscious.

* * *

When Paige came to, she was lying in the garage. Prue, Max, Mickey, and David were nowhere to be seen. She was untied, there was no tape around her mouth, and she was lying on the floor. Leo was crouched over her, his hand glowing over her forehead.

Once she was fully healed, Leo helped Paige to her feet.

'Thank you,' said Paige. 'We need to go and help Prue and Max.'

Leo stopped her. He looked angry.

'Paige Lillian Wyatt,' said Leo.

Oh no, Leo was angry at Paige, but what was this about?

* * *

**A/N:** I was never going to have Paige take Prue's place in this episode. That would just be stupid. As to what Leo is angry about, you will find out in the next chapter. You may already have an idea if you remember Leo's storyline within this episode. Oh, and I keep forgetting to say: Please also take a look at my new Charmed fan fiction _Moved On_, if you have not already.


	33. Secrets And Guys (And Unravelling Lies)

**A/N:** She is a witch? She is a Charmed One? What does Leo know? :) Read this chapter to find out.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Three: Secrets And Guys (And Unravelling Lies)**

'So you found out I was kidnapped? How does that make you angry with me?' asked Paige.

'We will get to the kidnapping later,' said Leo.

'No. I know you may think I am putting off finding out why you are angry with me – which I admit, part of me is putting it off – I actually need to find out what happened to Prue and Max. They are my priority right now,' said Paige.

Leo sighed. 'Okay. You are right. Charges and innocents come before personal life, but you are not off the hook, Paige.'

'So what do you know about the Max case?' asked Paige.

'Max is a young witch with a deceased witch mother and a mortal father,' began Leo.

'I know all that already,' said Paige. 'Max has psychokinetic powers.'

'Yes,' said Leo. 'I left Prue a message via the spirit board to find Max because I was unable to reach Max telepathically. However no one has seen Prue all afternoon and I can no longer reach her telepathically either.'

'Well, I have been held hostage alongside Max all day,' said Paige. 'Prue appeared in the afternoon to rescue Max, extremely surprised to see me there…'

Paige wondered how she could explain some of this without lying about Prue's use of magic in front of Paige when Prue was not supposed to know that Paige knew Prue was a witch.

Leo noticed the hesitation and said angrily, 'Look, Paige, I know that you blew your cover to the sisters ages ago! Just get on with the story.'

'When did you find out?' asked Paige.

'This morning,' said Leo. 'Now, carry on. Charges and innocents before personal life!'

Paige nodded. 'Well, Prue attacked the kidnappers with her powers so they kind of found out she had powers. They held her hostage with Max and me. We were sat around for ages before they came back. They wanted to use Prue and Max to steal something. They knocked me out before I could hear their plans.'

Leo nodded, taking all the information in.

'What brought you here?' Paige asked Leo.

'Well, I knew Prue would have come here because I sent her the message on the spirit board,' said Leo. 'I have not been able to sense her or Max since.'

Paige nodded. 'So you came here to look for them?'

'Not exactly,' said Leo. 'When Phoebe told me that she had not seen Prue since this morning, she said she needed to find you so as you could help.'

'Me? Oh, of course, because they think I am their guide,' said Paige.

'Paige, I know that you are a witch,' said Leo irritably.

'Oh,' said Paige. 'Oops. Okay, so that is why Phoebe wanted me…'

'Don't worry, Paige. We will get to the full explanation of what I know you have been keeping from me after we have found Prue and Max,' said Leo.

Paige nodded.

'So when Phoebe said she needed to find you, I decided to try and sense for you,' said Leo. 'Lo and behold, I sensed that you were in the auto shop and unconscious. The only other person I could sense here was also unconscious.'

Paige nodded.

'I orbed straight here to heal you and start my rant,' said Leo.

Paige nodded. 'That rant can wait.'

'I know,' said Leo.

'Hang on,' said Paige. Part of Leo's sentence had only just been processed by her brain. 'Did you say there was someone else here?'

Leo walked over to a man lying on the ground. Paige peered at the man from behind Leo.

'Who is he?' Paige asked Leo.

'I believe this is Max's father,' said Leo.

Leo advanced closer to Max's dad who was suddenly gaining consciousness.

'Paulette?' Paige heard the man say.

Leo kneeled down beside Max's father and said, 'It is not time to be with your wife, Gordon. It is time to be with your son.'

Before Gordon could argue, Leo was healing him.

'Raise the boy well,' Leo said to Gordon. 'Heed Prue's advice.'

Leo stood up and looked at Paige. They could hear the noise of an engine getting louder. Someone was coming.

'Do you want me to come with you?' asked Paige, realising that Leo was about to leave and remembering that he still wanted to have words with her.

'No. Prue knows that you would never leave an innocent behind,' Leo said, low enough for only Paige to hear. He was referring to Gordon. 'Attic, later.'

'Not attic. The Halliwells have been spring cleaning in there,' said Paige.

The noise of the approaching vehicle was getting louder and louder.

'Basement then,' said Leo.

Paige nodded and Leo orbed out.

A van pulled into the garage. Prue jumped out with Max by her side.

'Paige! Are you okay?' asked Prue.

'I am fine,' said Paige. 'I came to and Gordon here had untied me.'

Prue hugged Paige in relief.

'The question is: are you and Max okay?' said Paige.

Prue nodded. Then remembering Gordon and Max, Prue turned to them. Prue was surprised to see Gordon was no longer bleeding. Then she gave him some advice about Max.

Paige laughed to herself. How had Leo known that Prue would give Gordon advice? Paige's laugh was quickly stifled by the thought that Leo knew that she was a witch. Did he also know that she was related to the Halliwells? How had he found these things out?

'Paige.' Paige looked up. Prue was staring at her. Paige had not been listening to anything that had been said over the past few minutes.

'Mr. Franklin has just asked me to go somewhere with him and Max,' said Prue. 'Will you be okay getting back by yourself?'

Paige nodded. 'Except how? According to you, my car is no longer in the car park which means I have no idea where those jerks put it.'

'Take my car,' said Prue, giving Paige her keys. 'Mr. Franklin will drop me back at the manor.'

Paige nodded.

* * *

When Paige got back to the manor, she could hear voices from upstairs. Piper and Phoebe were home. Paige headed straight for the basement, hoping that they had not heard her enter the manor.

In the basement, Paige found Leo leaning up against the wall.

'Paige,' said Leo, acknowledging her presence.

'Hi,' said Paige weakly.

'So…' said Leo. He had calmed down from his initial anger, but he was still showing signs of disappointment.

'Who should start?' asked Paige. 'Should I start by telling you about what I have kept from you? Or should you start by telling me how much you know and how you found it out?'

'How _much_ I know?' repeated Leo. 'How much _I_ know? Does that mean there is more that you have been keeping from me?'

'I don't know until you tell me what you know,' said Paige.

'Paige, I know that your cover has been blown practically since the day you moved into the manor. I know that Phoebe was the first one to find out that you were a witch,' said Leo.

Paige nodded. Leo had not mentioned anything about the sister stuff, which probably meant he did not know. She wanted to keep it that way for now.

'So how did you find this stuff out?' asked Paige.

'No, Paige. No. I am not answering that question until you tell me why you kept that information from me,' said Leo.

Paige had never seen Leo this angry – he was acting so disappointed.

'I cannot answer that until you tell me whether you are going to give the Elders this information,' said Paige.

Leo sighed. 'The Elders have to know that your cover is blown and that you are a witch.'

'Will they take me away from the Halliwells?' asked Paige gloomily.

'If they take you away from the Halliwells, they will have to do the same with me…' said Leo.

'Excuse me?' said Paige.

'Phoebe knows I am their white lighter…' said Leo.

'What? How did this happen?' said Paige. She was not expecting this reply.

Anger returned to Leo's expression as he said, 'You have to answer my question first. Why did you keep this from me, Paige?'

'Well, I found out that I was a witch before my cover was blown,' said Paige.

'When?' Leo asked.

'When I was helping Piper and Phoebe with that wedding,' said Paige.

'The Jade D'mon wedding?' asked Leo.

Paige nodded. 'Piper froze some food that Phoebe threw at her. I did not freeze. That was when I realised…'

'So why did you not tell me?' Leo asked.

'I was going to at first,' said Paige. 'After having a chance to think about it with all the commotion that went on that day, I decided against telling you.'

'Why?' said Leo.

'I figured that if I had told you that I was a witch, then you would have become majorly over protective,' said Paige.

'Why would you think that?' asked Leo.

'Your day to day life involves protecting witches from demons,' said Paige. 'I felt that if you found out I was a witch then you would have stopped me from helping you with your charges.'

'No I would not have,' said Leo.

'Yes, you would have,' said Paige.

'No… I just would never have left you when the Elders asked me to as part of your assessment…' said Leo.

'See. You are freaking out over all those times when I came face to face with demons,' said Paige.

'Well, why wouldn't I be? A demon's natural enemy is a witch! Therefore, a demon is more likely to come after a witch than a mortal!' said Leo. 'Paige, it is dangerous!'

'It is a dangerous job for you too,' said Paige.

'Yes, but I am not a witch,' said Leo.

'Yes, you are a white lighter, but before now I have always been a mortal in your eyes,' said Paige. 'It is no more dangerous for me now than it was before. Accept that.'

Leo shook his head.

'Now do you see why I chose not to tell you?' said Paige.

Leo shook his head again – in fact, he had not stopped. He was still shaking it from before, like a stubborn little kid who did not want to listen.

Finally Leo stopped shaking his head and looked at Paige. 'Paige, I am never going to agree with you on this subject. However, I know you are close to the Halliwells, so I am not going to make you stop helping them against your will.'

'Good,' said Paige. 'And I do not need you to start watching me twenty four seven either.'

'Do you have any active powers I should know of?' asked Leo.

'Nope. I wish I did though,' said Paige. 'So if you are telling the Elders that I am a witch, will they refuse to grant me that power?'

'If they refuse, I am going to persuade them to do it anyway,' said Leo. 'I am not letting you carry on without any form of protection of your own.'

'Thank you,' said Paige.

'No thanking me just yet, Paige. I am still mad at you. You have still not told me how you managed to blow your cover as well as the reason why you did not tell me,' said Leo.

Paige nodded. 'Think back to the exact same day…'

'You blew your cover the day that you found out you were a witch?' said Leo exasperated.

'Not exactly…' said Paige. 'I crashed the hen party, saving the stripper, and then Prue showed up.'

'You were using an invisibility potion though,' said Leo. Paige did tell Leo some things, so he knew the general details of what went down that night.

'Yes,' said Paige. 'I was also wounded.'

Leo grimaced.

'Prue noticed this, but did not know who I was,' said Paige. 'The next day, however, when I was back to being myself, Prue noticed my bandaged hand.'

'Paige!' groaned Leo. 'You should have had me heal it! She realised you were the person who had saved her, didn't she?'

Paige nodded. 'I tried to deny it, but Prue is too… stubborn.'

Leo sighed. 'So she found out you were a witch?'

Paige shook her head. 'No, I managed to make her think that I only knew their secret and was their guide. I managed to hide the part about me being a witch.'

'This is the reason that Prue suddenly decided to let you live with them, isn't it?' said Leo. 'This is why she suddenly became friends with you after bad first impressions.'

'No,' said Paige firmly. 'We had our chat before she found out about me. Yes, she only asked me to move in after finding out I knew their secret, but we became friends before that.'

Leo nodded, slowly processing all this information.

'So when did the sisters find out you were a witch?' asked Leo.

'Well, Prue promised not to tell Piper or Phoebe who I was,' began Paige.

'More secrets and lies! Great!' said Leo sarcastically. 'So when did Piper and Phoebe find out? And also when did they all find out about you being a witch?'

'Well, when Piper and Phoebe were flirting with you, I got extremely annoyed at them two,' said Paige.

'What has this got to do with anything?' said Leo. His cheeks went slightly red thinking back to those days when both Halliwell sisters had been trying to get his attention.

'I was really annoyed so I started looking through the Book of Shadows for a spell to get back at Piper or Phoebe,' said Paige.

'Paige, you should know about personal gain,' said Leo.

'I know,' said Paige. 'I found a reflections spell…'

'A reflections spell?' said Leo. 'Paige, you didn't –'

Paige interrupted Leo. 'Yes. I presume by your reaction that you know what it does.'

'Of course I do. It is quite obvious from the spell name,' said Leo. 'It is a mirror-trap spell.'

'I did not expect the magical world to be so literal…' mumbled Paige.

'What did you think the spell was?' asked Leo.

'Reflections… I thought it was, you know, a spell that makes people reflect,' said Paige. She felt stupid saying it now.

Leo rolled his eyes. He would never have rolled his eyes at Paige if he was not angry and disappointed.

'So you were the one who cast the spell that got Phoebe stuck in that mirror?' said Leo.

'Yes,' admitted Paige. 'I managed to get it all sorted in the end though. Without your help.'

'If you had told me straight away, I could have helped before Kali decided to possess Phoebe,' said Leo.

'If I had told you, you would have had to blow your cover to Phoebe,' said Paige.

'No, because I know how not to get my cover blown…' Leo trailed off there.

'Except you cannot say that because you have managed to let it slip to Phoebe,' said Paige.

'We are not discussing me right now, Paige,' said Leo. 'We are discussing you.'

Paige rolled her eyes.

'Don't roll your eyes at me, Paige,' said Leo.

'You did it a few minutes ago!' said Paige.

'That is not the point, Paige,' said Leo.

'You're right. It seems that if you do something like blow your cover or roll your eyes, it is okay. However if I blow my cover or roll my eyes, it is automatically a disaster!' shouted Paige.

'Shush!' said Leo. 'Piper and Phoebe are upstairs! Do you want them to hear and come down here?'

'Why not?' said Paige. 'Phoebe knows who we both are anyway! Hang on, she does not know I am your adopted daughter, right?'

'Of course not. That is not my piece of information to disclose,' said Leo. 'Besides my point is not about Phoebe, but about Piper. She thinks I have left town.'

'What? What did I miss today?' said Paige.

'Stop changing the subject, Paige,' said Leo. 'So, Phoebe found out that you were a witch because you cast that spell on her. Yes?'

Paige nodded.

'While we are on the topic of that day – and now that you are actually being truthful – do you have any idea about that strange Power of Three spell?' said Leo.

Paige was not willing to open up to Leo about that yet. 'No,' she lied.

'Okay,' said Leo. 'So when did Prue and Piper find out?'

'Phoebe told them. She is no good with secrets,' said Paige.

'Oh, that does not sound good for me then,' said Leo. 'I asked her to keep my being a white lighter a secret from Prue and Piper.'

'Are you going to get around to explaining all this to me?' said Paige.

'After you have finished with your side of things,' said Leo.

Paige nodded and sighed. 'Prue believed Phoebe because Prue already knew that I knew their secret. Piper did not believe Phoebe. Not until she saw me casting a spell. You don't need to know the details on that though.'

'I probably don't,' said Leo. 'Is that everything?'

'Yes,' said Paige. 'Now what about you? How did Phoebe find out?'

'It is easier to show you than tell you,' said Leo.

'And how are you going to do that?' asked Paige.

'Well, I know what power the Elders were going to grant you,' said Leo. 'I am going to make them grant you with it now.'

'What power?' asked Paige.

'An advanced form of telepathy. More advanced than what white lighters have,' said Leo.

'How can that power help me protect the sisters?' said Paige. 'I thought I would get an active power.'

'Paige, white lighters only use passive powers to help their charges,' said Leo.

'I am not a white lighter,' said Paige.

'You aren't, but you are taking up a white lighter's role,' said Leo.

He held out his hand. Paige took it. Leo orbed them straight to the circular room Paige had had her assessment hearing in.

'Leo!' said the grumpy Elder from the other day. He was the only Elder present in the room. 'What are you doing here? And why have you brought Miss Matthews with you?'

'Caleb, grant Paige her power right now,' said Leo.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you liked the chapter. The next chapter will be all about how Leo blew his cover. Also, the second chapter of _Moved On_ is up. Read and review it if you have not already!


	34. Secrets And Guys (And Through His Eyes)

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews. I really don't know when he is going to find out about the sister connection at the moment. If you have not noticed my rhyming _Secrets And Guys_ chapter titles, then this is your last chance to (as in this is the last _Secrets And Guys_ based chapter).

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Four: Secrets And Guys (And Through His Eyes)**

Leo explained to Caleb how Paige was a witch and how the Halliwells knew that Paige was a witch and their guide.

'If Miss Matthews did not tell us she is a witch, that is grounds for dismissal,' said Caleb.

'No,' said Leo. 'She is doing a good job working alongside the Halliwells,' said Leo. 'It does not matter that she did not tell you, what matters is that the Halliwells trust her.'

'Leo, you may say that, but Miss Matthews kept this fact from us, and did not even mention it during her hearing,' said Caleb. 'Plus you say that the Halliwells know why she is there. That is also grounds for dismissal.'

'Caleb, Paige is not even a white lighter,' said Leo. 'Therefore, she does not come under the same rules.'

'Exactly, she is not a white lighter. She is a witch!' said Caleb. 'Witches do not have other witches as charges.'

'So you let Paige take on a white lighter's role when you thought she was mortal, but not now that we know she is a witch?' said Leo.

'Leo, you are twisting my words,' said Caleb. 'The other Elders and I allowed Miss Matthews to work with you because you told us that we could trust her. We would never normally let a mortal take on this role. However, she had grown up with knowledge of the existence of magic all her life and we had your word that she would be useful.'

'And Paige is great at this role,' said Leo.

'Yes, but you said that we could trust her,' said Caleb. 'It is clear that we cannot. She has been keeping it hidden from us that she is a witch and that her cover was blown.'

Paige had been silent up to now. She decided to cut in, to fend for herself.

'Yes, my cover was blown, but the Halliwells still respect me and I am still able to help them. In fact, it is easier to help them with them knowing,' said Paige. 'Besides most white lighters don't have to keep their role a secret from their charge. Why does my dad have to do that? And why do I have to?'

'Witches that are new to magic need to be eased into the magical world and the Charmed Ones were new to the craft,' said Caleb.

'Well, they are used to it now,' said Paige.

'That is beside the point, Miss Matthews,' said Caleb. 'You still refused to tell us that your cover was blown and that you are a witch.'

'Fine, yeah, I should have told you,' said Paige. 'I don't even care right now whether you grant me that power or not. All I ask is that you allow me to continue as their guide!'

Caleb frowned.

'Paige may not care whether you grant her that power, but I do,' said Leo. 'You can trust her. You can even punish her for not telling you, but grant her that power.'

Caleb sighed. 'Leo, I will grant Miss Matthews the power. Miss Matthews, you may continue as the Halliwell's guide. However, you will soon be called back for your punishment. First, I must discuss the matter with the other Elders.'

Leo and Paige nodded in agreement.

Caleb approached Paige and held his hand over her head. Caleb closed his eyes. His hand began to glow. Then Paige glowed.

Caleb opened his eyes and put his hand by his side. 'Miss Matthews, this power will not be easy to control. Leo, it is your job to help Miss Matthews learn to control this new power. Miss Matthews, expect to get a call from the other Elders and I very soon.'

Leo and Paige nodded.

'Thank you, Caleb,' said Leo.

'Thanks, I guess,' said Paige.

Leo orbed Paige back into the basement of Halliwell manor.

'So how do you expect to show me?' asked Paige.

'Take hold of both of my hands.' Paige was stunned. She had heard Leo say this, except he had not said it. His mouth had not moved. It was his thoughts.

Slowly, Paige took hold of both of Leo's hands.

'Good,' thought Leo. 'Now close your eyes and imagine you are opening a door into my mind. Don't be afraid. I will continue to guide you.'

Paige nodded. She shut her eyes.

'Okay, Paige. Now imagine you are me. You are at Halliwell manor and it is this morning again,' thought Leo.

'This is silly,' thought Paige.

'Paige, this is not silly. This is to get you into the correct mindset,' thought Leo.

'You can hear my thoughts too?' thought Paige.

'Yes,' thought Leo. 'Advanced telepathy works both ways. That is why Caleb told you it would be a difficult power to control. You could end up letting all your secrets out to your worst enemy by mistake.'

'Then why did the Elders want to grant me this power of all powers?' thought Paige, suddenly panicking.

'In the right hands, this power can be so advantageous, Paige. The Elders trust you. Even after owning up to Caleb about what you have kept from the Elders, he still agreed to grant you this power, Paige. That shows how much faith the Elders have in you,' thought Leo.

Paige sighed.

'Paige, believe in yourself,' thought Leo. 'Now concentrate.'

'Okay,' thought Paige. 'It is this morning again. I am you. I am entering the manor…'

Suddenly Paige felt dizzy, like her mind had jumped a few thousand miles in a millisecond. She opened her eyes:

_Paige orbed onto the doorstep – except she was not Paige, she was Leo. Leo was about to push the doorbell when Piper opened the door from inside the manor._

_'Ha. Ding-dong,' Paige found herself – no, not herself, Leo – saying._

_Leo and Piper laughed a little before Piper said to him, 'Leo, you're back.'_

_Piper hugged Paige – no, Piper hugged Leo – and stood back to look at him._

_'It's so good to see you,' said Piper. 'How are you?'_

_'Better now,' said Leo. 'How are you, Piper?'_

_Prue and Phoebe walked into Leo's view in the corridor behind Piper. They were carrying the spirit board._

_'I am better now too,' said Piper._

_Prue and Phoebe approached the door._

_'Leo!' shouted Phoebe._

_'Hey stranger, good to see you,' said Prue._

_A second Leo appeared next to Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. They were oblivious to him and carried on talking to the original Leo on the doorstep. The Leo on the doorstep continued his conversation with Prue, Piper, and Phoebe._

_'Paige, I need you to try and focus your mind,' said the Leo in the hallway. He was staring at the Leo on the doorstep. 'Try and think forward a couple of hours.'_

_Paige – while doorstep Leo continued to speak to the Halliwells - closed her eyes. The voices around her went silent._

_Paige opened her eyes. She – no, not her. She was Leo again – was in the living room. Leo looked up at the chandelier. Like Phoebe had told him, the light bulb was flickering._

_Leo had not brought a ladder with him. Prue and Piper had left for work. Phoebe was nowhere to be seen so he decided to levitate up to the ceiling to start detaching the bulb from the chandelier. Once disconnected, the bulb still glowed in his hand due to his white lighter powers._

_Leo heard a voice from behind him. He turned to see:_

_'Phoebe!'_

_Leo fell to the ground. Leo opened his eyes –_

No, Paige opened her eyes. She was back in the basement with Leo. She was no longer holding Leo's hand. She was on the ground.

'Ow,' said Paige, rubbing her backside.

Leo smiled. 'Sometimes a jolt like that in a person's memory can push you out of their head,' he thought.

Paige nodded. 'Does that mean there is more for me to see than that?' Paige thought.

Leo nodded.

'What more is there to see?' thought Paige. 'You showed me your memory of how Phoebe found out what you were.'

Leo helped Paige back to her feet.

'Yes, but I did not show you how I found out about you,' thought Leo. 'Take my hands again.'

Paige took Leo's hands and shut her eyes.

'Imagine you are me again. It is this morning again. Phoebe just saw you use magic and now it is time for you to explain everything to her,' thought Leo.

'It is this morning again. I am you. I was stupid enough to levitate in a house that was not empty –'

Leo cut Paige off. 'Paige!' he thought. 'Focus!'

'Sorry, it is hard to focus considering you are supposed to be the experienced one, yet you made a mistake that I would never have expected you to make,' thought Paige.

'Paige, concentrate on what matters, please,' thought Leo.

'Sorry,' thought Paige. 'Okay. It is this morning again. I am you. I am in the living room. I am holding a light bulb. Phoebe entered the room and I have fallen to the ground…'

Like earlier, Paige felt dizzy as if her mind had jumped a few thousand miles in a millisecond. She opened her eyes:

_'Let me call you back,' said Phoebe into her phone as she stared at Paige – no, not Paige, at Leo._

_Phoebe accused Leo of being a warlock and then of being a witch. With each accusation, Leo managed to persuade Phoebe that she was wrong._

_Phoebe noticed the glowing light bulb in Leo's hand. He quickly made it stop glowing._

_'I repeat my question, Leo. What are you then?' said Phoebe. 'Is Leo Wyatt even your real name?'_

_'Yes, my name is Leo Wyatt,' said Leo._

_'Then if you are not a witch or a warlock, what are you?' said Phoebe._

_'I am a white lighter,' said Leo._

_'Oh my gosh! Paige said we did not have a white lighter and yet you have been here the whole time!' said Phoebe._

_Leo's temper rose as he heard this._

_'Did you just say Paige has already told you about white lighters?' asked Leo._

_Phoebe nodded, smiling. 'Yes!'_

_'You know Paige's secret?' said Leo._

_'Of course I do. Prue, Piper, and I all know that Paige is a witch,' said Phoebe._

_'What?' said Leo in surprise._

_Phoebe's face dropped. 'Oh no. Paige told us that the Elders and white lighters did not know that she was a witch.'_

_'Really?' said Leo sarcastically._

_'Leo, forget what I said,' said Phoebe._

_Phoebe walked into the kitchen and switched the kettle on. Leo followed her into the kitchen._

_'Do you want something to drink, Leo?' said Phoebe. 'Do white lighters drink?'_

_'No, I don't want anything, and yes, white lighters do drink,' said Leo._

_The two stood in silence while Phoebe waited for the kettle to boil._

_'Phoebe, how long have you known about Paige?' asked Leo._

_'Are you her source? The one that she uses to get information from the Elders?' said Phoebe._

_'Don't avoid my question. How long have you known?' said Leo._

_'Er, ask Paige. That is for Paige to tell you,' said Phoebe._

_'Phoebe,' said Leo._

_'No, it is up to Paige to say. I have already said too much,' said Phoebe._

_Leo sighed, but nodded in defeat._

_The kettle came to a boil. Phoebe found a mug, some milk, and a teabag to make herself some tea._

_'Are you sure you don't want one?' Phoebe asked Leo._

_'I am sure,' said Leo._

_Phoebe made her way into the conservatory and sat down. Leo sat down opposite her._

_'Leo, I told you I am not going to tell you anymore about what Paige has said,' said Phoebe._

_'I understand that Phoebe,' said Leo. 'How much do you know about the magical world?'_

_'Well up until today, I thought you were a handyman, and now I find out you are a…' began Phoebe._

_Leo interrupted with, 'White lighter.'_

_'Yes, a white lighter,' said Phoebe._

_'And you speak of the term white lighters and Elders as if you are used to it,' said Leo._

_'Well, I have never met an Elder or white lighter in person,' said Phoebe. 'Except you, that is.'_

_'Then how do you know so much about them?' said Leo._

_'Paige explained about white lighters and Elders,' said Phoebe._

_'Paige,' Leo muttered to himself, shaking his head in disappointment._

_'Don't be mad at Paige,' yelled Phoebe. 'She had her reasons for telling us.'_

_'I am not mad at Paige for telling you,' said Leo. 'I am mad at her for not telling me.'_

_'So Paige did know about you?' asked Phoebe._

_Leo hesitated and then said, 'Yes. She was asked to stay undercover. I was also undercover.'_

_'So that is why she did not tell us about you when we found out about her,' said Phoebe._

_Leo nodded._

_'Why do we have both you and Paige to guide us?' asked Phoebe._

_'Although she is not a white lighter, I am training Paige,' said Leo, being careful as to what information he gave to Phoebe._

_'Hang on. She was not even a witch back then,' Phoebe began._

_'Er, I could sense that she was a witch-to-be,' lied Leo._

_Phoebe nodded._

_'Paige, come back.'_

_Behind Phoebe, another Leo had appeared. He had said this._

_The original Leo and Phoebe were completely oblivious to this and he continued his conversation with Phoebe, hovering his hand over her mug to heat the tea._

_'Paige, think back to the basement,' said the second Leo. 'You are back in the basement.'_

Paige opened her eyes. Leo was standing in front of her, holding her hands. He let go of her hands.

'Does that explain everything to you?' asked Leo.

Paige nodded. 'So are all three sisters going to know who you really are now?'

Leo shook his head. 'I asked Phoebe to keep it a secret.'

Paige laughed. 'It won't be a secret for long.'

'That is what she said. I need her to keep it a secret though,' said Leo. 'Phoebe helped me to end things with Piper. I cannot keep a relationship going with Piper. It is forbidden.'

'You are no longer with Piper?' asked Paige. She was surprised at hearing this news. She also felt guilty at the satisfaction she felt from hearing it.

'You could try and be a little less happy about it,' said Leo glumly.

'Huh?' said Paige. Then she remembered her telepathic powers and said, 'Are you still hearing my thoughts?'

'Only the ones that you let slip out,' said Leo. 'You need to learn not to do that. You need to control it.'

Paige nodded.

'You better go,' said Leo. 'All three sisters have been in the manor for a while.'

'How do you know? Oh yeah, you can sense them,' said Paige.

Leo nodded. 'You need to help me make sure that Phoebe does not tell the sisters about my secret.'

'Okay,' said Paige.

'I will talk to you another time,' said Leo before orbing out.

Paige left the basement. There was no one around so she went up the next stairs. When she reached the landing, she heard voices coming from the attic. Paige made her way up the attic stairs, but stopped before entering the attic.

'I need to block my mind,' thought Paige. 'I cannot let my thoughts out.'

Paige took a deep breath and then opened the attic door.

Prue and Piper were laughing.

'What? Phoebe, that's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard,' laughed Piper. 'Don't be so silly.'

Piper threw Phoebe a doll.

Prue wiped tears of laughter from her eyes and noticed Paige at the door.

'Hi Paige, come in,' said Prue.

Phoebe turned to see Paige. 'Paige! Paige can back me up!'

'What is this about?' lied Paige. She had a hunch about what Phoebe was about to say.

'Leo is a white lighter, isn't he?' said Phoebe.

'Er, what are you on about?' lied Paige.

'Paige! Leo told me that you know about him,' said Phoebe.

Paige smiled at Prue and Piper. 'I think Phoebe has had too much time to think up of this make believe story today.'

'Yeah,' said Prue. Then she turned to Phoebe and said, 'You know, Pheebs, with an imagination like that, you should be writing children's books or something.'

'Paige! Stop lying!' said Phoebe. 'You know this is true!'

'Pheebs, give it a rest,' said Piper as she left the attic. 'I am going to go and make some tea.'

Phoebe glared at Paige before throwing a toy train into the box. 'I am going to find out why you are lying,' Paige heard Phoebe think.

Paige did not hear what Prue had said to Phoebe as this thought had taken focus away from the room. However, Paige suddenly noticed Prue remove the toy train from the box. Prue was starting to explain how she might actually want kids some day, despite what she had said that morning.

'So did you save Max or did Max save you?' said Phoebe.

Paige rolled her eyes. Prue was not the only one who had learnt a life lesson that week. Paige no longer cared that she had missed out on a childhood with her sisters. Although she would never get the chance to relive her childhood, at least she could be with her sisters in the here and now.

'Aaww, Paige that is so sweet,' said Phoebe, hugging Paige.

'Yes, that is,' said Prue. Her arms were crossed. 'Why could we hear that though?'

'What did you hear?' said Paige.

'Well, in my head, I heard your voice. You were talking about how you no longer miss the fact that you never had a chance to grow up with us because you can be with us in the here and now,' said Prue.

'I heard that too,' said Phoebe.

Paige blushed.

'Spell?' said Prue.

'Nope,' said Paige. 'Power. Granted for me by the Elders.'

'What's the power?' asked Prue.

'Telepathy,' said Paige. 'I still need to learn to control it though.'

'Do you mean you can read our minds?' said Piper who had just entered the attic with a mug of tea in her hands.

Paige nodded.

Phoebe grinned. 'What number am I thinking of?'

* * *

**A/N:** I am going to make Paige's power of telepathy quite strong, mostly because of the fact that she is a Charmed One, so this should strengthen it.


	35. Woogy (Plus Relationship Tremors)

**A/N:** Okay, so last chapter, a couple of reviews were related to Paige's white lighter powers. When will Paige be able to orb?: She will start orbing properly when she finds out about being a white lighter, which is more towards the end of season one. When Paige does find out about her white lighter half, will she be able to tele-orb?: Well, Prue is still alive, so Paige should not be able to use that form of telekinesis. I may find a way around that though.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Five: Is There A Woogy In The House? (Plus Relationship Tremors)**

In the first few weeks since Paige had gotten her power of telepathy, she had been finding it a nightmare. It was impossible to control.

Paige was sitting in the kitchen, minding her own business when Phoebe turned around with a big grin and said, 'Is that what Wilson looks like, Paige?' Paige looked up at Phoebe and blushed. Paige had been thinking about Wilson, but had not realised that she had been projecting the thought to others.

This sort of thing happened a lot. Somehow, Paige had not managed to blow the secret that she was Leo's adopted daughter or that Leo was their white lighter yet. Even with that bit of luck, Paige did not like that her other thoughts would randomly wander into her sisters' heads.

Another problem that Paige was finding with the telepathy was that she could not control the noise control of people's thoughts in her own head. She could constantly hear Prue, Piper, and Phoebe's thoughts, but she could also hear the whole neighbourhood's thoughts.

Paige knew that her sisters had all noticed that the stress of the power was getting to her. She knew that they cared for her well-being and only wanted to help her, but Paige could not stand being close to them, because the closer she was to people, the louder the thoughts clouding her head became.

Leo had left Paige to learn to control it by herself because he was busy with other charges, especially a charge called Daisy who a dark lighter had fallen in love with. Therefore Paige decided not to distract Leo from his charges by calling him for help. She had to learn to control this new power by herself.

Therefore Paige locked herself away in the basement where it was quiet and refused to come out until she had control over the telepathy. By the looks of things, she felt like she was going to be locked in the basement forever.

Even though Paige still had a feeling that there was something wrong about the basement, this instinct helped to dampen the strength of her telepathy. The feeling that something was wrong helped to drown out the noises of the street. However, she could still hear Prue, Piper, and Phoebe's thoughts quite clearly when they were in the manor.

When Paige first locked herself in the basement, none of the sisters entered because they knew that she was upset. Prue must have been standing on the kitchen side of the basement door because Paige heard Prue think, 'Paige, I know you can hear me. I know you don't want me to come down there, but we can help you.'

'You can't help me,' thought Paige. 'I need to be left alone to learn to control this.'

'Paige, you are not in the basement to learn control, you are in the basement to hide from it,' was Prue's response.

'Get out of my head!' screamed Paige.

Paige heard Prue walk away from the door, but she could still hear Prue's thoughts just as clearly as before.

Another time, Paige noticed that Piper was trying to contact her, because Piper's thoughts had gone from thinking about what to cook or what to do at work that day to 'Paige, can you hear me?'

'Go away, Piper,' thought Paige.

'I am in the living room,' thought Piper.

'You know what I meant,' thought Paige. 'Get out of my head.'

'You are the one who can hear my thoughts, and then respond by putting your own thoughts in my head,' thought Piper.

'Whatever,' thought Paige. 'Why are you bothering me?'

'We are worried about you, Paige,' thought Piper. 'You have not come up for food in days.'

'I have, but only when the three of you are out of the manor,' thought Paige.

'Paige, we want to help you,' thought Piper.

'You cannot help me,' thought Paige.

Another day it was Phoebe who contacted Paige.

'You know what, Paige,' thought Phoebe. 'If you had have gone anywhere else but the basement, I would have burst into the room to talk to you by now.'

'You are scared of the basement?' thought Paige.

'You didn't know?' thought Phoebe.

'No,' thought Paige. 'What do you want?'

'I think I have found a spell in the Book that can block your power,' thought Phoebe.

'A binding spell?' thought Paige, rolling her eyes.

'Yes, a binding spell,' confirmed Phoebe.

'I don't want a binding spell!' thought Paige in anger. 'The Elders gave me this power to use it to help you three! Why should I bind it? I need to learn how to control it, not get rid of it!'

Their thoughtful discussion was interrupted as the ground began to shake. She heard feet run around on the floor above her. Paige had presumed that it was the early hours of the morning and although Phoebe had been awake, flicking through the Book of Shadows, Prue and Piper must have been asleep. Obviously the earthquake had woken them.

'Run for your life!' Paige heard Phoebe scream from the floor above.

Paige took it as a nice distraction from the many thoughts in her mind. She grasped for some pipes as the basement floor rocked beneath her feet. Paige gaped as she shone her torch at the concrete floor to notice that a small crack had appeared. Her instinct that said that there was something wrong with the basement suddenly grew a little stronger.

After the floor had stopped shaking Prue and Piper came running into the basement. Prue and Piper were both in dressing gowns and looked tired as well as anxious about their youngest sister. Paige shielded her eyes from the light that filled the basement from the kitchen. The sudden light was not as bad as the higher volume of external thoughts rushing into her head.

Paige winced as Piper's loud thoughts bombarded her head: 'It cannot be safe down here. There is nothing soft in here. What if she got hurt?'

'Paige, are you okay?' asked Piper, worriedly.

'Paige, come upstairs!' ordered Prue. 'It is not safe down here and there may be some aftershock.'

Paige could also hear Prue's thoughts louder now that she was only a metre away from her: 'Oh my gosh, look at the size of that crack in the basement floor.'

'Was that huge crack in the basement floor before?' she heard Piper think.

Paige looked up at her two eldest sisters and noticed that they were staring at the basement floor.

'That was caused by the earthquake,' explained Paige.

'Another reason for you to come back upstairs with us,' said Prue. 'There may be damage to the structural support in here.'

'I am not coming,' said Paige, trying to force Prue and Piper's thoughts from her head so as she could concentrate on their voices.

'Paige, please come back up with us,' said Piper. 'There is no light down here.'

'I have my torch,' said Paige, holding it up to shine it into Piper's face.

Piper crumpled her face until Paige turned the torch light away from her.

'Sorry,' said Paige. 'Just proving a point.'

'Come back upstairs,' said Prue.

'Paige, get back up here!' Paige heard Phoebe shout from the basement door. Phoebe was also wrapped in a dressing gown and had slippers on, but as Paige suspected, Phoebe was extremely reluctant to enter the basement, so remained at the door.

'I am not coming until I get control over my power,' said Paige.

'You have not even been trying!' said Prue before storming out. Paige heard Prue think, 'Fine! If she does not want to co-operate, then there is no use trying to help her. I hope you heard that, Paige!'

Paige rolled her eyes and then looked over at Piper who was still there.

'Please,' plead Piper. 'It is not safe down here.'

Paige shook her head. 'I can't, Piper. I am sorry.'

'I don't want you to get hurt,' said Piper.

Piper slowly began to walk away and up the stairs. Paige heard Piper think, 'Please Paige. I know you can hear this: We want you to be safe. We want to help you, Paige.'

Piper did not shut the basement door as she entered the kitchen. Phoebe was still watching Paige from the basement door.

'Shut the door, Phoebe,' said Paige. 'And go back to bed.'

'Paige,' said Phoebe.

'Shut the door,' repeated Paige.

Phoebe sighed and shut the door.

Paige closed her eyes and lay against the basement wall. A little while later she was woken up by a strange smell in the basement. At first she thought the smell was coming from herself, but after a whiff, she realised the smell was coming from the crack in the floor.

Paige almost immediately heard dishes clattering in the kitchen above which meant it was probably time for breakfast. She had slept for a couple of hours. Paige then confirmed not only that Piper was the one in the kitchen, but also that the smell had spread to the rest of the house when Paige heard Piper think, 'Is that smell coming from the basement?'

Paige had thought about Prue's rant about Paige not actually trying to control her power like she kept telling them she was. Therefore Paige took a deep breath and tried to meditate like she had in the days before she had met her sisters. Paige managed to calm herself down. She sat with her legs crossed and closed her eyes. She managed to block all the thoughts from her head as she went into the correct state of meditation.

* * *

Prue had been right. There was another after shock. This after shock knocked Paige out of her meditative state. This after shock was closely followed by another. Paige held onto the pipes again.

Paige shone her torch on her watch. It was now midday. She must have been deep in meditation to be out for quite a few hours. What made Paige even happier was that right now, all thoughts but her own seemed to have vacated her head for now. She felt at peace – for now. Paige did not know how long this peace of mind would last. Paige did not even seem to mind the strong smell in her current state of mind.

Since the tremors had stopped, Paige decided that she would go back to meditating in order to see if it could help her gain more control over her power. Paige sat back down, crossed her legs, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

* * *

'Paige? Paige?'

Paige opened her eyes to see Piper standing in front of her. There was a big man standing beside her with a torch in his hand.

'Paige, are you okay?' asked Piper with concern in her voice.

Paige smiled. 'I feel much better than I have in weeks. Why?'

'Will you come upstairs then because the gasman wants to check out the basement, and I am a little worried that if this is a gas leak it could have affected you,' said Piper.

'Gas?' Then Paige remembered the smell. 'Oh. I have been down here for hours and am fine.'

Paige happily followed Piper out of the basement, leaving the gasman in there. Prue and Phoebe were happy to see Paige with Piper.

Phoebe hugged Paige. 'I was so worried about you!'

'Are you on about the gas?' asked Paige.

Prue laughed. 'Nah. Phoebe is on about the bogeyman.'

'The bogeyman?' said Paige, confused.

'That is why Phoebe is scared of going into the basement,' said Piper. 'She thinks there is a bogeyman down there and she thought you would be in danger spending time down there.'

'There is no such thing as the bogeyman,' laughed Paige.

'I know that,' said Phoebe. 'It is the Woogyman that I don't like.'

'Then shouldn't you be worried that the gasman is down there all by himself?' laughed Paige.

'Of course I am!' said Phoebe loudly.

Then something else popped into Paige's head. 'If you thought it was a gas leak down there, why did you not force me up here when you first noticed the smell?'

'We did, kind of,' said Piper. 'We were thinking really loudly, hoping you would hear.'

'It must have been clear after a while that I was not responding,' said Paige, thinking back to the meditative state she had been in.

'Your lack of response did worry us,' said Piper.

'You could have been knocked out by the gas leak,' said Prue.

'Then why did you not come down until the gasman got here?' asked Paige.

'I don't know how your telepathy works, or what you were doing down there, but something made me feel like you were absolutely fine,' explained Prue.

'As if you were telepathically telling us you were at peace and that you were safe,' finished Piper.

'Wow, I was only meditating, but it seems to have cleared my mind up of all the telepathic noise, and even worked on you guys,' said Paige smiling.

'Good to see you back to your usual self, Paige,' said Phoebe.

'Good to be back with a little control, Pheebs,' said Paige.

Paige looked down at the post that Piper had put on the kitchen table. Paige picked up the parcel on top and saw that it was addressed to a 'Chanda Lier'.

Paige smiled at Phoebe and said, 'Using fake names, are we?'

'How did you know that was mine?' said Phoebe, taking it with embarrassment.

'It just seems a very you thing to do,' laughed Paige.

Paige turned to leave the kitchen.

'Where are you going?' asked Prue.

'To the attic,' said Paige. 'I want to do some more meditation.'

Prue smiled. 'Better than the basement.' Then Prue added, 'Hey Paige. I have a work dinner party here tonight. Now that you may have some control over your power, do you think you could help out with it later?'

Paige nodded and laughed as she said, 'As long as Claire does not mind seeing me again. She hated me that time that I met her.'

A few minutes later Paige was in the attic and back into a state of meditation.

* * *

'Paige?'

Paige opened her eyes. It was dark outdoors. She must have been out for a while. However, her mind was clear and at peace. She felt like she could summon the power if she needed to use it, but only at her own will. She felt like she could switch it on and off as she wanted as long as she kept the meditation up frequently.

Prue was staring at her, dressed in a long dark dress, with a necklace around her neck.

'Is everything okay?' Paige asked, gesturing for Prue to sit on the sofa next to her.

'Well, we did not want to disturb you earlier,' said Prue.

'What happened?' asked Paige.

'The gasman attacked Piper,' said Prue.

Paige's jaw dropped. 'Is Piper okay?'

'Yes. Phoebe saved her,' said Prue.

'That's good,' said Paige with a sigh of relief. Then she noticed that Prue still looked unhappy. 'It is a good thing that Phoebe saved her, isn't it?'

'Yes… but Phoebe somehow has a new power _and_ she is not acting like herself,' said Prue.

'Do you think there is something wrong with her?' asked Paige.

'I don't know,' said Prue. Then she turned to Paige, and asked, 'What can you do with your telepathy powers apart from communicate by thought.'

'Why?' asked Paige. She could see where Prue might be going with this.

'How advanced are your telepathic powers, Paige?' asked Prue.

'You want to know if I can delve through a person's inner mind and thoughts, don't you?' sighed Paige.

'Can you?' asked Prue.

Paige sighed. 'Yes… It was the first thing that I did when I got the power, but I had help. Why?' Paige already knew the answer.

'I need to know that Phoebe is okay,' said Prue.

'So you want me to snoop into my own sister's mind just in case there is something wrong,' said Paige.

'Paige, she might be… possessed,' said Prue. 'I know there is something wrong, but I cannot do anything unless there is proof.'

Paige sighed. 'Phoebe will hate me for it if you are wrong.'

'_If_ I am wrong, she can blame me,' said Prue.

'You don't think you are wrong, do you?' said Paige.

Prue looked at Paige seriously. 'Paige, if I thought there was a possibility that I was wrong, I would not be asking you to do this.'

Paige nodded. 'I did tell you three that I am here as your guide and to keep you out of trouble. Sister or not, I will do this for you.'

Prue smiled. 'Thank you. You have my permission to ditch helping out with the dinner party preparation.'

Prue stood up and left the attic, closing the door on her way out.

Paige crossed her legs on the sofa and shut her eyes. She took a deep breath and thought back to what Leo had told her to do when he was telling her how to go into his mind. Leo had told her to think that she was Leo and think that it was earlier that day.

'I am Phoebe,' Paige thought. That felt weird to think. 'It is morning. I need to see what happened to Phoebe. I am Phoebe.'

Paige suddenly felt dizzy as if her mind had jumped a few thousand miles in a millisecond. She opened her eyes:

_The doorbell rang. Paige – no, not Paige, she was Phoebe – Phoebe opened the door of an apartment that was unfamiliar to Paige._

_'Clay!' said Phoebe. She embraced Clay. 'How are you?'_

_'I am good thanks,' said Clay. He looked nervous about something. 'Er, Phoebe, we need to talk.'_

_Phoebe let Clay into the apartment and they sat down on Phoebe's sofa._

_'Phoebe, I am going to be leaving town with some friends,' said Clay._

_'You are leaving me?' asked Phoebe. Paige could feel what Phoebe felt. She was hurt by this sudden revelation._

_'Yes,' said Clay. 'Phoebe, I have to leave with them. You will be fine.'_

_'Clay…' said Phoebe. 'How can you do this to me?'_

_'Phoebe…'_

_'Don't Phoebe me!' said Phoebe. Tears were forming in her eyes._

_'Pheebs…' said Clay._

_'Don't Pheebs me either!' said Phoebe._

_Clay sighed._

_'Why are you still sitting there, Clay?' said Phoebe angrily. 'You break up with me and then stay put. What are you expecting me to add to this conversation?'_

_Clay did not move. Phoebe stood up._

_'Get out of my apartment, Clay,' said Phoebe. 'I don't ever want to see you again!'_

_Clay stood up and left._

_Phoebe went straight to her phone and dialled a number that Paige recognised: Halliwell manor._

_The phone stopped ringing and a voice answered, Piper. 'Hello?'_

_'Piper?' said Phoebe, trying to contain her tears._

_'Phoebe!' said Piper. She sounded happy to hear her little sister's voice. 'Phoebe, how are you?'_

_'Not good,' said Phoebe, no longer able to contain her tears. 'Clay just broke up with me. I never want to see him again.'_

_'Aaww, honey, if you were here I would hug you,' said Piper._

_'That is something else I was going to tell you,' said Phoebe._

_'What's that?' asked Piper._

_'Well, I am running out of money and have no job,' said Phoebe. 'My apartment is being repossessed soon. Can I come back to San Francisco with you guys?'_

_'Of course you can, Phoebe!' said Piper with delight._

_'Do you think Prue will mind?' asked Phoebe hesitantly._

_'She probably will, but I will try and break it to her softly,' said Piper. 'She will come around.'_

_'When are you thinking about coming back here?'_

_'In a week or two,' said Phoebe. 'I will let you know the exact details in a day or two.'_

_'I will look forward to your phone call,' said Piper._

_'Thank you, Piper,' said Phoebe. 'I love you.'_

_'Love you too, Pheebs,' said Piper._

_The phone call ended._

_Phoebe put her phone down and sighed. She had had no luck in trying out the New York lifestyle. She had not found her dad. She had had a boyfriend only to lose him. And she had lost practically all her money._

'I am back in the attic,' Paige thought to herself. She had a sudden head rush and when she opened her eyes, Paige found she was sitting on the attic sofa again.

'That was not where I was supposed to go,' Paige muttered to herself. 'Maybe I need to be more specific about what I want to see.'

Paige could hear voices coming from downstairs. The guests had arrived downstairs. Paige needed to get a move on with the task that Prue had given her just in case there was something wrong with Phoebe and she did something to the guests.

Paige closed her eyes again, and thought, 'I am Phoebe…' Paige's mind drifted to the dinner party as the guests were being quite noisy. Suddenly Paige felt extremely dizzy and when she opened her eyes, she was…

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, now that is what I call an evil cliff hanger. Please review.


	36. Woogy (And Through Her Eyes)

**A/N:** Any lines from the original canon _Is There A Woogy In The House?_ episode should be obvious to those who have seen the original episode. Hopefully those lines are few in number in comparison to what I have written myself. Enjoy this very much italicized chapter as it is all pretty much involving Paige's telepathy power/Phoebe's mind.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Six: Is There A Woogy In The House? (And Through Her Eyes)**

_Paige was Phoebe again. Except this time, she was at the manor. In fact, Phoebe was dressed for a party – not a party, but a dinner party. Phoebe was standing with a group of people in the living room of Halliwell manor. Paige recognised one of the people amongst the group that she – no, not her, Phoebe – was showing around. It was Claire._

_Paige was shocked. Either she was in Phoebe's very recent memories or she was in the present mind of Phoebe, observing through Phoebe what was going on down below as the manor hosted a dinner party._

_Phoebe turned to one of the guests and asked them, 'Would you like to see the grand tour?'_

_The guest smiled and nodded._

_Phoebe led the way. Phoebe quickly pointed out the foyer which the guest seemed quite interested in the structure of. Then Phoebe led the guest – that Paige could tell from Phoebe's mind was called 'Professor Whittlesey' – up the staircase and showed the professor each of the bedrooms, except for the attic. Paige was glad about this. If they had gone into the attic, Phoebe and the professor would have found Paige's motionless body sat on the sofa._

_Phoebe then hurried the professor down into the kitchen just as Prue, Piper, and Claire were leaving it._

_'This is the kitchen,' said Phoebe. 'Very boring if you ask me.'_

_Then Phoebe pointed to the door that led to the basement, 'And down there. Down there is the basement. You should go and take a look.'_

_The guest smiled but said, 'Really, I don't need to see the basement.'_

_'Are you kidding? It's the best part of the house,' said Phoebe coldly. 'After you.'_

_The professor entered the basement, closely followed by Phoebe._

_Phoebe shut the door and it went pitch black in the basement._

_'What's going on?' asked the professor, frightened._

_'Just keep going down,' said Phoebe menacingly._

_'Let me go back up,' said the professor who was terrified._

_The professor tried to go back up the basement stairs but Phoebe blocked the path._

_'The only way is down,' sneered Phoebe._

_Panicking, the professor continued down the steps. Paige watched through Phoebe's eyes – which were well adjusted to the darkness - as a dark shadow came out of the crack in the basement floor and engulfed the professor._

_Paige now knew that Phoebe was possessed and that whatever had possessed Phoebe was also now possessing the professor. She had to get out of Phoebe's head and warn Prue and Piper._

'I am back in the attic,' thought Paige.

_'You are not getting away that easily,' said a voice._

_Everything around Paige went black. Suddenly, when Paige could see again she was in a white empty void. Where was she?_

_Paige looked at her hands and the clothes she was wearing. She even pulled strands of her hair in front of her eyes. She seemed to be back in her own body, even if she was only mentally there, wherever 'there' was._

_Suddenly Phoebe appeared out of nowhere. She looked sinister._

_'Where am I, Pheebs?' asked Paige._

_'You are exactly where you put yourself,' said Phoebe. 'You are in my mind still. Except I cannot let you leave after what you saw.'_

_'Phoebe, you are possessed! I need to get out of here and help you!' said Paige._

_'I am powerful,' said Phoebe. 'I don't want to lose this power, Paige.'_

_'Phoebe, I need to get out of here and warn Prue and Piper,' said Paige. 'The three of us can help you!'_

_'I don't need your help,' said Phoebe._

_'So what are you going to do with me, then?' asked Paige._

_'Keep you here, for now,' said Phoebe. 'You are not here physically, but I can find where you are in the manor and kill you. That will keep you quiet.'_

_'Phoebe, you know you don't want to do that,' said Paige, stepping back from her possessed sister._

_'Yes I can,' cackled Phoebe. 'What are you going to do about it? You have no control over this power of yours! This is my mind! Only I have control over it.'_

_Paige rolled her eyes. 'Coming from the possessed person.'_

_'I am the evil talking here,' said Phoebe annoyed. 'So what I meant is I – not Phoebe – have control over Phoebe's mind.'_

_'That makes more sense,' said Paige._

_Then Paige looked around at the void she was in._

_'Is this how empty Phoebe's mind is?' Paige said with a smile as a joke._

_'I don't think this is the time for you to joke,' sneered Phoebe._

_'So are you just going to keep me here?' said Paige, gesturing to the empty void._

_'Not exactly,' said Phoebe. 'I am going to let you go back to watching my every move. That way you can watch me kill your sisters and then you can watch me kill you too.'_

_'So even if you find my body, you won't kill me until after you have gotten to Prue and Piper?' asked Paige._

_Phoebe sneered and nodded. 'It would be no fun to let you die before I kill the other two. I may as well let you watch their deaths before your own.'_

_Suddenly everything became black around Paige again. When she was finally able to see again, she was back to observing everything take place through Phoebe's eyes._

_Phoebe was standing at the door of the manor. Prue and Piper were outside the manor._

_'Who asked you to?' Piper asked Phoebe. 'And where is Paige? Don't harm her, Phoebe.'_

_'Okay, that's it,' said Prue, walking up the manor steps. 'We need to –'_

_As Prue attempted to enter the manor, she was thrown back by an electric shock. Prue landed on the grass and Piper ran down to the grass to check on Prue._

_Piper looked back up at Phoebe and shouted, 'Phoebe, what's wrong with you? Why won't you let us in?'_

_'No, you can't, you shouldn't. You don't live here anymore!' Phoebe's voice suddenly changed to a demonic one as she said: 'He does.'_

_Phoebe shut the front door and walked back into the manor._

_'Phoebe! What are you doing? Snap out of this! He does not have total control over you!' shouted Paige._

_'Oh shut up, Paige,' shouted Phoebe._

_'Oh, good, so I may be trapped in your mind, but you can at least hear me,' said Paige. 'Even if that was the demon that answered and not you. The real Pheebs must be in here somewhere.'_

_'She has no control,' said Phoebe. 'Plus I am the only one who can hear you.'_

_Paige laughed. 'If you are the only one who can hear me and you are replying to me, that means you are talking to yourself.'_

_'It is an empty house, Paige. I don't think anyone cares,' said Phoebe. 'Besides, you can go back into that empty void until I come face to face with your sisters again.'_

_Everything went black around Paige. Once again, Paige found herself in the empty void. Paige sat down on the solid floor of the emptiness._

_'Phoebe!' Paige called. 'Phoebe! The real you is in here somewhere! Fight back for some control!'_

_Paige did not know how much time had passed because she was only present there mentally, but Phoebe's voice suddenly rang out in the void saying:_

_'I think you will enjoy seeing this, Paige.'_

_Paige suddenly found herself watching threw Phoebe's eyes again. Phoebe was standing at the door talking to Andy._

_'Oh no,' thought Paige._

_'Oh yes,' thought the voice inside Phoebe's head._

_'Phoebe, hey,' said Andy. 'I stopped by to –'_

_Phoebe interrupted him and said, 'Just in time. I think there might be a gas leak and I am home all alone. Do you think you could look it over?'_

_'Sure,' said Andy._

_'Don't Andy! It is a trap!' shouted Paige but she knew it was pointless even before the voice inside Phoebe's head said, 'He cannot hear you, Paige.'_

_Andy followed Phoebe into the manor. She guided him into the kitchen._

_'It is down in the basement,' said Phoebe._

_'The basement?' said Andy._

_Phoebe pointed at the closed basement door and it opened by itself._

_'Lead the way,' Phoebe told Andy._

_Andy nodded and pulled a torch out of his pocket. He switched it on and walked down the steps._

_'So where are Prue and Piper today?' Andy asked Phoebe as he walked slowly down the steps trying to locate the source of the gas-like smell._

_'They are out and about,' said Phoebe. 'It is like they are trying to stay away from the house.'_

_The door closed behind Phoebe so the only light in the room was now coming from Andy's torch._

_'Phoebe, do you want to reopen that door?' asked Andy._

_'No,' said Phoebe evilly._

_Andy turned to Phoebe with confusion on his face. Suddenly the dark shadow had come out of the crack in the basement floor and engulfed Andy._

_'Andy!' shouted Paige automatically even though she knew he could not hear her. Only Phoebe could hear her._

_Phoebe cackled._

_Andy suddenly smiled, a disturbing smile._

_Phoebe guided him back to the front door. She opened it and Andy was about to leave when Phoebe and Andy suddenly froze._

_Paige was confused. She was still able to look out of Phoebe's frozen body, but why was Phoebe frozen?_

_Paige heard feet run past Phoebe into the manor and then stop._

_'Oh my gosh.' It was Prue's voice. 'She's frozen.'_

_'Good,' Paige heard Piper say._

_Prue and Piper were there, but if Piper had managed to freeze Phoebe that meant…_

_'… our powers don't work on good witches,' Paige heard Prue say which was basically what Paige was thinking._

_Was Paige's mind not frozen because she was a good witch? Yet even though Phoebe was frozen, Paige could not escape and return to her own body._

_'We've lost her,' Paige heard Prue say. 'Let's go get her back. Run.'_

_Paige heard the sisters run up the stairs. Phoebe and Andy suddenly unfroze._

_'Bye Andy,' said Phoebe._

_Phoebe shut the door on Andy._

_'You are going to wish you had never done that,' shouted Paige. 'Prue and Piper are –'_

_Phoebe interrupted Paige. 'What about Prue and Piper? As you are inside Phoebe's mind, I can read you like an open book. They froze me? They are here? They are upstairs? Probably in the attic? Thanks for the information, Paige.'_

_Phoebe headed upstairs._

_'Leave them alone!' shouted Paige._

_Phoebe had reached the attic stairs, but she did not open the door. She listened in on Prue and Piper's conversation._

_'All right, the Woogyman is a real demon, so Phoebe was right?' Prue was saying from inside the attic to Piper._

_'Prue, how can you focus on that when Paige is sitting here unconscious? Paige! Paige! Can you hear me?' Piper was shouting._

_'Shush, Piper,' said Prue. 'Phoebe is downstairs.'_

_'How can we help Phoebe and protect Paige's vacant body at the same time?' panicked Piper._

_'I think I know where Paige has gone,' said Prue._

_'Where?' asked Piper._

_'Into Phoebe's mind,' said Prue._

_'What? Why would she do that?' shouted Piper._

_'Shush, Piper. Lower your voice, remember,' said Prue. 'I asked her to do it because I thought there was something up with Phoebe. It is all my fault if that thing has taken Paige hostage.'_

_'We cannot lose both sisters!' shouted Piper at a slightly lower volume._

_'I know. That is why in order to protect Paige, we have to save Phoebe,' said Prue. 'Now how did that Woogyman spell go?'_

_'Something about a Woogyman and Grams fought it,' said Piper._

_'That's it?' said Prue. 'That's all you remember?'_

_'Well, don't you remember anything?' asked Piper._

_'It was sort of like a rhyme,' said Prue hesitantly. 'Sort of like a children's song…'_

_Piper replied, 'Well, we better figure it out fast, or…'_

_Piper opened the attic door and stopped when she saw Phoebe standing there. Piper went pale. Phoebe grabbed Piper and pushed her out of the attic. Phoebe walked into the attic and locked the door behind her._

_'Prue! Prue!' Paige could hear Piper shouting from outside the attic._

_Phoebe looked around the attic. Paige's dormant body sat on the sofa with her eyes closed and her legs crossed. She looked peaceful and was breathing, but obviously her mind was not there._

_Prue noticed Phoebe staring at Paige's body and walked between Phoebe and Paige._

_'Don't worry,' snarled Phoebe. 'I won't kill her until I have killed you and Piper. I want her to watch this all happen.'_

_'You have trapped Paige in your head?' said Prue. She was ready to defend herself at any moment._

_'Yes,' said Phoebe. 'Poor Paige can see and hear everything that I am seeing and doing but has as little control over it as Phoebe does.'_

_'Paige! If you can hear me, try and find Phoebe in there – the real Phoebe. I know you can do this!' shouted Prue. 'I will make sure Piper, your body, and I are safe. Find the real Phoebe!'_

_Phoebe cackled and a sword appeared in her hands._

_'Any fantasies about how you want to die?' asked Phoebe._

_'Phoebe, listen to me, this isn't you,' said Prue, trying now to help get the real Phoebe back in control._

_'Give the girl a prize!' laughed Phoebe._

_Piper could still be heard calling Prue's name from outside the attic._

_'Look, whoever is doing this hasn't completely beaten you, otherwise we would be dead by now,' reasoned Prue._

_'Really?' said Phoebe._

_Paige suddenly found herself in the empty void again. However, this time, she could still hear what was going on in the attic even though she could not see it anymore._

_Phoebe's figure appeared in the void next to Paige._

_'Phoebe?' Paige asked._

_'Paige!' Phoebe shouted and hugged her sister._

_'Phoebe, this is really you?' asked Paige._

_Phoebe nodded. 'Paige, I don't know how to take back control.'_

_'You are getting there,' said Paige. 'You managed to make yourself appear in this void and talk to me. You were not able to do that before.'_

_Phoebe and Paige heard Prue's voice echo through the void: 'Phoebe, you were stronger than him.'_

_'Listen to Prue, Phoebe,' said Paige. 'You can do this. You are stronger than him. She is right.'_

_Phoebe shook her head. 'I can't do this,' Phoebe said, tears dripping down her cheeks._

_'Phoebe, you were stronger than him before, and you still are now,' said Paige._

_Phoebe opened her mouth to speak again. Her voice echoed around the void as she said, 'No I was not. That is why he chose me.'_

_Paige smiled. 'Phoebe! You took control just now! Did you not notice the echo? That meant that Prue could hear you!'_

_However, they then heard the demonic voice echo, 'But now I am stronger than you.'_

_'He is too powerful,' Phoebe said to Paige. 'I can't…'_

_'Yes, you can!' Paige said._

_Suddenly Paige felt a jolt and felt herself thrown from Phoebe's body._

Paige opened her eyes. She was being carried telekinetically down the staircase at a fast pace. She saw Prue reach the foyer and watched as Piper tried to exit the manor but got thrown back by electricity.

'We are locked in this house, our sister's trying to kill us, and our other sister is comatose!'

'Prue? Piper?' Paige said. Her voice was croaky as it had been almost a day since she had last spoken.

Prue was so shocked to hear Paige's voice that she caused Paige to fall to the floor.

'Ow,' said Paige.

'I am so sorry, Paige,' said Prue.

Paige stood up, rubbing her head. 'For what? Getting me trapped inside possessed Phoebe's mind or dropping me just now?'

'For both,' said Prue. 'Sorry. I did not expect you to come back so soon after what happened when we came face to face with possessed Phoebe.'

'Yeah, I don't know how I suddenly came back to my body,' said Paige. 'I had no control over my powers in there. The Woogyman had me trapped.'

'Are you okay?' said Piper. 'I was so worried about you when I found you in the attic. Prue had not told me where you had gone off to.'

'I am fine now… but Phoebe is not,' said Paige. 'What happened just before you two came down here?'

'Why?' asked Prue.

'I need to figure out how I got back to my own body,' said Paige.

'Well, Phoebe was about to attack me with a sword, so I used my telekinesis to fling Phoebe across the room,' said Prue. She did not look happy at the thought of what she had done to her sister but it was most likely that this had been Prue's only option. 'I then used to telekinesis to pick you up, unlocked the attic door, and came fleeing down here with Piper.'

'Which was pointless because we are trapped in the house anyway,' added Piper.

Paige suddenly remembered what had happened when she had first used her telepathic powers with Leo. When he had fallen from the chandelier in his memory, she had been jolted back to her real body. Therefore, since Paige had been inside Phoebe's mind – even though it was her present mind and not her memory – maybe the jolt of Phoebe being thrown across the room had sent Paige back to her own body.

Prue, Piper, and Paige made their way into the conservatory.

'The answer must be in Grams' Woogyman story,' said Prue.

'Which neither of us remembers,' said Piper.

Prue and Piper turned to Paige.

'Paige, you grew up around magical people,' said Prue. 'Did you ever hear the Woogyman story?'

Paige shook her head. 'Sorry, I haven't. It was the Wendigo story that I always heard.'

'Well then it is up to us two to try and remember,' said Piper to Prue.

Paige had sat down on the sofa in the conservatory and crossed her legs. Prue and Piper looked at Paige.

'Paige, what are you doing?' asked Piper.

'I am going back into Phoebe's mind,' stated Paige.

'Paige! You were lucky to get out of there before,' said Prue.

'I know,' said Paige.

'So why are you going back in?' asked Prue. 'What if you cannot get out again?'

'Then just throw Phoebe across the room again,' smiled Paige.

'Why are you even risking going back into her mind?' said Piper. 'With you out here, we have the Power of Three formed. We could try a Power of Three spell.'

'I am going back in there for two reasons,' said Paige.

'What are they?' asked Prue.

'Number one: To help Phoebe take back control,' said Paige. 'And number two: To take control of my own power.'

* * *

**A/N:** I hope it all made sense. I was not too sure how to write the parts where Paige was speaking to Phoebe in the void clearly, as those are different to Paige observing things through Phoebe's eyes.


	37. Woogy (And Taking Control)

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Seven: Is There A Woogy In The House? (And Taking Control)**

Paige ignored Prue and Piper's protests. Paige closed her eyes and thought: 'I am myself. I am going back to that empty void within Phoebe's mind.'

Paige felt the now familiar dizziness that showed her she had jumped into Phoebe's mind.

_Paige opened her eyes. She was back in the white void. This time she was not alone. Phoebe's figure sat on the ground. She was hunched over and covering her face with her hands. She had not noticed Paige appear._

_'Phoebe?' said Paige._

_Phoebe looked up and saw Paige. She smiled._

_'Paige? You are back!' said Phoebe. 'You disappeared before!'_

_'I know,' said Paige. 'I am back now though. And I am going to help you take back control.'_

_'I told you I cannot,' said Phoebe, all happiness disappearing from her face._

_'Trust me, you can,' said Paige._

_'Paige, this is the second time that I have been possessed,' said Phoebe. 'I could not take back control that time. I know I cannot this time.'_

_Phoebe looked away from Paige, but then with an inquisitive expression turned back to Paige._

_'You escaped from my mind?' Phoebe said._

_'Yes,' said Paige._

_'Then why did you come back?' asked Phoebe. 'You could have tried to save me with a Power of Three spell like last time I was possessed.'_

_'Piper suggested a Power of Three spell,' laughed Paige._

_'Then why did you not go for that?' asked Phoebe annoyed._

_'I felt the urge to prove to you that you can take back control by yourself,' said Paige._

_'It is not by myself if you are here,' mumbled Phoebe._

_'I am here as support,' smiled Paige. 'Plus I am here to prove to your Woogyman that he cannot control my power while I am in here.'_

_'So you came back into my mind just to prove that you could leave it without being trapped in it?' said Phoebe._

_'And to support you too,' added Paige. She did not like how Phoebe had put it. Phoebe had made her sound so vain._

_The void suddenly echoed with the voices of Prue and Piper talking._

_'He is close to them!' squeaked Phoebe._

_'Phoebe, you know the spell that will vanquish him,' said Paige._

_'I do?' said Phoebe._

_'Apparently it is the story that Grams used to tell you,' said Paige. 'Prue and Piper do not remember it, but you do. All you need to do is take enough control to say the spell.'_

_Phoebe shook her head. 'I cannot…'_

_'Yes you can,' said Paige firmly._

_Phoebe's voice suddenly echoed around the void: 'Prue! Piper! Help me!'_

_'That was not me,' the real Phoebe said to Paige._

_'I realised that,' said Paige. 'He must be trying to trick Prue and Piper.'_

_Phoebe looked extremely worried._

_'Phoebe, try and take control,' said Paige. 'Even if you cannot get enough control to make yourself say the spell, just yet… Er, try and see if you can see what is going on.' _

_Phoebe closed her eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, the empty void around them filled with an image of where the possessed Phoebe stood. They could see what the possessed Phoebe was seeing now._

_Possessed Phoebe was standing in the basement._

_'Please, you got to help me!' shouted possessed Phoebe. 'Down in the basement!'_

_Prue and Piper had still not left the kitchen._

_Again possessed Phoebe shouted, 'Help! Please, I need you!'_

_Paige and the real Phoebe watched from Phoebe's mind as Prue and Piper entered the basement._

_'Phoebe?' said Piper._

_As they walked down the basement stairs slowly, possessed Phoebe somehow reappeared by the basement door so as Prue and Piper were below her on the stairs._

_'What took you so long?' sneered possessed Phoebe._

_Prue and Piper saw her. Prue squinted at the basement door and it closed on possessed Phoebe so as she was unable to enter the basement._

_Although Paige could now see whatever possessed Phoebe was seeing, this time it was like looking at a television screen. Therefore, she could still see her own self and the real Phoebe stood beside her watching all of this._

_'Phoebe,' Paige said to the real Phoebe. 'You have managed to let us talk and see what is going on at the same time. I could not even speak to you when I first entered your mind. You can gain enough control to say the spell.'_

_'I… I don't know…' said the real Phoebe._

_'You can,' said Paige. 'Phoebe, I cannot do this for you.'_

_'Paige, I am scared…' said the real Phoebe._

_'So am I,' said Paige. 'And so are Prue and Piper. They need you to fight through this and gain control right now.'_

_The real Phoebe suddenly gasped. Paige looked onto the screen to see what was going on outside in the physical world. Possessed Phoebe stood still with her hand on a photo of Grams. Maybe both possessed Phoebe and real Phoebe were having a premonition?_

_The real Phoebe fell against Paige. Paige held her up for support._

_'You can do this, Phoebe,' said Paige. 'Take control. Say the spell.'_

_The real Phoebe nodded. As she spoke, her words echoed around the void – by now Paige knew that this meant that the real Phoebe was speaking these words out loud in the physical world too._

_'I am light,_

_I am one too strong to fight._

_Return to dark where shadows dwell,_

_You cannot have this Halliwell._

_Go away, and leave my sight,_

_And take with you this endless night.'_

_Paige could see the Woogyman disappear back into the crack of the basement._

_The real Phoebe that was standing beside her disappeared._

_Prue and Piper embraced her – no, they embraced Phoebe. Paige was back to watching everything through Phoebe's eyes. Paige was no longer standing in the void as her own self._

_'Is Paige still in your head?' asked Piper. _

_'I think she is,' laughed Phoebe. She was back to herself again. 'Paige, get out of my head and come and join the hug!'_

_Paige took a deep breath and closed her eyes._

'I am back in the conservatory,' thought Paige.

Paige felt her mind jump and stood up from the sofa she had been sat on. She felt a little dazed. Paige opened her eyes and made her way into the kitchen where her three sisters stood smiling.

Phoebe hugged Paige when she saw her wander in.

'Thank you, Paige,' said Phoebe.

Paige smiled as she wandered over to the cupboard to grab a glass and then to fill it with water. The form of advanced telepathy she had just used had given her a headache, but she was happy to have Phoebe back to normal.

Paige took a sip of water and then said, 'No problem, Pheebs. You showed the Woogyman who's boss.'

'Something does not make sense,' said Phoebe.

Prue, Piper, and Paige turned to Phoebe to find out what she was on about.

'Why did Paige decide to go into my head in the first place?' asked Phoebe.

'Er…' said Paige, trying not to give Prue away by looking over at her.

Paige heard Prue sigh from beside her. Prue said, 'Pheebs, it was me who asked Paige to. I was worried about you and I was right.'

'This is a first,' said Phoebe.

'What's that?' asked Paige.

'The fact that I am happy to hear Prue say that she was right,' said Phoebe.

'Wow, that _is_ a first,' laughed Piper.

'Too bad Prue admitting she was right is not a rare thing to hear,' laughed Paige.

'Too bad? What do you mean?' laughed Prue. 'I _love_ admitting that I am right!'

'Oh no!' said Phoebe.

'What?' asked Prue.

'Well, while I was possessed,' said Phoebe. 'I kept sending –'

'Neighbours to the basement and turning them evil too?' asked Piper. 'We noticed. We spoke to Darryl before we got back into the manor.'

'Yes, but I also –'

Prue interrupted Phoebe with a gasp. 'When Piper and I broke into the manor, we froze you and Andy, because Andy was leaving! Andy was… You let that thing take Andy over?'

'Prue, it wasn't me!' said Phoebe with so much guilt in her voice.

'Prue, I was in Phoebe's mind when that happened,' said Paige. 'Phoebe had no control. In fact, you did not need to be in her mind to notice how little control she had.'

Phoebe smiled at Paige, glad to see her little sister back her up.

'Thanks, Paige,' said Phoebe.

'I know you had little control, but… I mean, Andy… He… What if he..?' Prue could not finish her sentence.

Prue ran to the foyer and her sisters followed her.

'Where are you going, Prue?' Piper asked as Prue put her jacket on.

'I am going to the police station to talk to Andy,' said Prue. 'I need to know that he is okay.'

Before anyone could interject, Prue had left the manor, leaving the door wide open behind her.

'Aren't you going to go after Prue?' Paige asked Piper.

Piper smiled nervously. 'Last time I tried going through that door I was thrown across the room so I am not in a rush to leave the house just yet.'

Phoebe and Paige exchanged looks. For the fun of it and to prove a point, they pushed Piper out of the door.

'Hey!' moaned Piper as she stood on the doorstep.

'See. The manor is back to normal now,' laughed Phoebe.

Piper did not come back into the manor. She decided instead to walk towards her car.

'And where are you going?' Phoebe called to Piper.

'I am going to see how Josh is,' said Piper.

Piper drove off and Phoebe shut the door.

'Who's Josh?' Paige asked Phoebe.

'He was one of the guests at Prue's dinner party,' explained Phoebe. 'He annoyed Piper a lot.'

'In other words, Piper likes him?' said Paige with a cheeky grin.

Phoebe grinned too. 'I think she does.'

There was a knock on the door.

'Are we expecting anyone?' Paige asked Phoebe.

Phoebe shook her head.

Paige opened the door. Andy was there.

'Andy?' said both Phoebe and Paige.

'Hi there,' said Andy. 'Is Prue home?'

'No,' said Paige. 'She just left to find you at the police station. She wanted to know whether you were okay.'

'So the four of you have heard what I did?' asked Andy sheepishly.

'Er, bits of it,' lied Phoebe. 'What exactly did you _do_?'

'I went through a moment of insanity after leaving this place and tried to shoot Darryl,' said Andy.

'Oh my gosh!' gasped Paige. 'Did you..?'

'Luckily Darryl pinned me to the ground before I could,' said Andy. 'He managed to snap me out of it.'

'That's good,' said Phoebe. 'I am so sorry, Andy.'

'Sorry? What do you need to be sorry about?' asked Andy.

'Don't mind, Phoebe,' said Paige. 'Phoebe is just as shocked as I am, but it seems whatever happened to you affected most of the neighbourhood. I think it even affected Phoebe, whatever it was. Do the police have any idea what caused it?'

Andy shrugged. 'I have been suspended for two weeks due to what I did, so I don't know what the police department thinks.'

'Oh, Andy,' said Phoebe.

Andy smiled weakly.

'So why did you want to see Prue?' asked Phoebe.

'I was just in the neighbourhood, not sure what to do as I had no work,' said Andy. 'So I thought I would pop by and say hi.'

Paige laughed.

'What?' said Andy.

'Even though you are suspended, you still hide your personal reasons behind work,' said Paige.

Andy smiled. 'Can I wait here until Prue comes back or not?'

Phoebe and Paige moved to the side so as Andy could enter the house. They ushered Andy into the living room to take a seat on the sofa.

As Andy sat down, he turned to Phoebe, and said as a joke, 'What? I don't get to see the basement this time, Phoebe?'

Phoebe went pale.

'Are you okay, Phoebe?' asked Andy, concern in his voice.

'Phoebe does not like the basement,' said Paige quickly.

'Oh,' said Andy, shrugging.

* * *

After half an hour of conversation with Andy, the three of them went silent, because they had heard the front door open.

Prue and Piper walked into the foyer together. They were having a conversation of their own which was audible enough to hear from the living room.

'So Morris said that it was only a two week suspension, which is why Andy was not at the station when I went to check on him,' said Prue. 'Morris would not tell me what Andy had done though.'

'Prue, I am sure Andy did not do anything too drastic or he would have been more than just suspended,' said Piper.

Phoebe and Paige exchanged looks.

Paige concentrated on sending her thoughts across to Phoebe and only to Phoebe.

'Do you think I should let Prue and Piper know that Andy is here before their conversation starts mentioning magic?' thought Paige.

Phoebe nodded as a response to Paige's thought.

'Prue? Piper?' thought Paige.

'Paige?' thought Prue.

'Paige?' thought Piper. 'Was that your voice in my head or are you calling my name? It is hard to tell the difference.'

'In your head, Piper,' thought Paige.

'Wait, you are thinking to Piper and me at the same time?' thought Prue.

'Prue, why can I hear your thoughts too?' thought Piper.

'Maybe Paige has managed to open up a network, because she is trying to think to both of us at the same time,' thought Prue.

'Wow. You are getting good at this telepathy stuff, Paige,' thought Piper.

'Prue! Piper! Stop thinking and listen!' thought Paige. 'Andy is in the living room with Phoebe and me. We could hear your conversation from here and I did not want you to start discussing witch stuff in case Andy hears.'

'You had me at 'Andy', Paige,' thought Prue.

Prue rushed into the living room. 'Andy! Hi!'

Piper walked into the living room and said, 'Hey Andy. Sorry to hear about your suspension.'

Andy smiled. 'Hi Prue. Hi Piper. It's okay. It's just I don't know what to do with myself for the next two weeks. I thought I would stop by and say hi.'

'Except when he turned up, he specifically asked for Prue,' added Paige with a smile.

'Paige!' shouted Prue and Andy at the same time.

Paige shrugged and headed for the kitchen. Piper and Phoebe followed her.

'You really do like to push Prue and Andy together,' laughed Phoebe.

'Someone needs to take control of their relationship or it won't go anywhere,' said Paige.

'I don't think that is what Prue was referring to yesterday morning when she told you to take more control,' said Piper.

Paige smiled and Phoebe laughed.

'Finding a loophole in Prue's annoying orders is always funny,' said Phoebe. 'She tells you to do one thing. You do it, with your own minor changes, and however much she moans about what you did, you can just tell her that you were only doing what she was saying to do.'

'Phoebe!' said Piper.

'What?' said Phoebe.

'You are not really being a good role model for Paige,' said Piper.

'Piper, you cannot suggest that because I am the next oldest after Paige that I am her role model,' said Phoebe. 'That would make you my role model as you are the next oldest after me. That would definitely make you a bad role model seeing as how I have turned out.'

Paige laughed.

'Paige, do you really find what Phoebe just said funny?' asked Piper.

'No,' said Paige. 'What I find funny is that she just found a loophole in what you said to her in the same way that I found a loophole in Prue's 'take control' instruction.'

Piper rolled her eyes.

'Is that rolling eyes thing becoming a habit, Piper?' laughed Paige.

'What do you mean?' asked Piper. 'I only roll my eyes as often as you, Prue, and Phoebe.'

Paige shrugged.

Piper rolled her eyes at Paige's lack of explanation.

'Paige is right, you just did it again,' laughed Phoebe.

'This conversation of ours has seemed so unimportant that I feel like it is just to fill time while Prue and Andy have their conversation before we get to the part where we are looking through the Book of Shadows with Prue,' sighed Piper.

'I thought I was the one who had premonitions,' said Phoebe.

'Oh, you don't need to see the future to know that we are going to look through the Book after Andy has left,' laughed Paige.

'I didn't know…' said Phoebe.

Piper smiled and said as a joke, 'Maybe that is why you were the sister who got the power of premonition. You need magical assistance to help you think ahead.'

'Hey!' said Phoebe and she hit Piper playfully.

The three sisters were silent for a few seconds.

Phoebe turned to Paige and broke the silence by saying, 'Paige, how strong do you think your telepathy powers will get.'

'Didn't we just discuss that you were the one with the premonitions, not us?' said Paige. 'In other words, how am I supposed to know?'

Phoebe shrugged. 'I was thinking… Do you remember when Prue, Piper, and I said the Relinquishment spell?'

Paige nodded. 'What about it?'

'Do you remember the premonition I had?' said Phoebe.

'Er…' hesitated Paige, trying to think back to the day. 'Oh yeah. You had a premonition that was extremely inaccurate.'

Piper looked at Phoebe and Paige inquisitively. She had not been present when Phoebe had had this said premonition so wanted to know more.

Phoebe nodded. 'I was thinking that maybe your telepathy power gets really advanced, so advanced that you can project yourself – like you did into my mind today – as well as another into someone else's mind.'

'You think that I was projecting you and me into Piper's mind in your vision?' asked Paige.

'Yes,' said Phoebe. 'It would explain why Prue was not there. She was probably protecting our unconscious bodies.'

Paige shrugged. 'Maybe. Has that premonition been bothering you then?'

Phoebe sighed. 'Sort of. I just wanted to find an explanation for it.'

'Maybe you have,' said Paige shrugging.

* * *

As expected, once Andy had left, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige found themselves in the attic with Prue, with the Book of Shadows open in front of them.

Prue had a pen in her hand and they had the Book open on a blank page.

'Who is adding the spell to the Book?' Prue asked.

'Phoebe,' said Paige, and Piper agreed.

'Are you sure?' asked Phoebe, blushing.

'We need to warn the next generation of witches if the Woogyman returns,' said Prue.

'The best person to warn them is the one who was the last to defeat him,' said Piper.

Phoebe nodded and began to write the spell into the Book.

* * *

**A/N: **So I thought this story should end where the canon version ended. No Leo in this story. I am not too sure just yet whether Leo will make another appearance before _Love Hurts_ or not. It depends on whether I think Paige needs him for her storylines in the episodes before that one. We'll see.


	38. WhichPrueIsItAnyway (AndTakingControl2)

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews! Phoebe will be bringing up the subject of Leo again to Paige during this episode (in chapter forty). Plus, when Phoebe says an italicized 'evil plan' in this chapter, imagine she is saying it in the same way that she says it in _Sense and Sense Ability_.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Eight: Which Prue Is It, Anyway? (And Taking Control 2)**

Paige found herself getting into the routine of meditating for an hour each morning after the day of the earthquake. The routine meditation kept her in control of her telepathy power. Therefore Paige made sure to do the meditation as soon as she woke up each morning so as it did not affect her day.

A couple of days after the Woogyman event, Paige was sitting in the kitchen by herself when Phoebe walked in.

'Paige, I was looking for you,' said Phoebe.

Paige looked up from her cereal bowl. She had been late getting up that morning and by the time she had finished meditating, Prue and Piper had already left for work. Phoebe had been in the shower when Paige had made her way down to the kitchen so they had not spoken yet that morning.

'Morning, Pheebs,' said Paige. 'What do you want?'

Phoebe grabbed a bowl from a cupboard and a spoon from a drawer before sitting down at the kitchen table. Phoebe took the cereal box that Paige had left on the table and filled her bowl to the brim with cereal. Phoebe put the cereal box down.

'Paige, I was thinking…' started Phoebe. 'Your power…'

'What about it?' asked Paige.

Phoebe stood up and went to the fridge, bringing out a bottle of milk. She sat back down at the table and poured milk into her now overflowing bowl of cereal.

'Well, you were able to go into my mind…' said Phoebe.

Phoebe stood back up and placed the milk bottle back in the fridge. She sat back down and put a spoonful of milky cereal into her mouth.

'Pheebs, aren't you going to finish your sentence?' asked Paige.

Phoebe pointed at her face, possibly in an attempt to tell Paige that she had to wait until Phoebe had finished her mouthful of cereal.

Paige sighed. Phoebe was annoying when she did this sort of thing. Paige wanted to know what Phoebe wanted to ask her. Why did Phoebe have to be so slow about getting the question out there?

Phoebe swallowed her mouthful of cereal. She was about to dig her spoon into her bowl again, but Paige moved Phoebe's bowl out of reach – consequently, due to the overflowing nature of the bowl, this action caused milk to slosh all over Paige's hand.

'No more cereal until you get to your point,' laughed Paige.

'Oh yeah,' laughed Phoebe. 'I wanted to know whether you think you could ever possess someone.'

'Excuse me?' said Paige. She was not expecting that at all.

'Do you think you could use your telepathy to possess someone?' asked Phoebe as she snatched her bowl back from Paige, spilling milk all over the kitchen table.

'What gave you that idea?' Paige asked before Phoebe could take another spoonful of cereal.

'Well, the night after I had been dispossessed of the Woogyman –' Phoebe paused to shiver at the thought of the Woogyman '– I thought back to how you went into my mind and started talking about taking control, ' said Phoebe.

'Yeah, and..?' said Paige. She did not see how this connected to the idea of her being able to possess others.

'Well, I was thinking, if your telepathy is powerful enough to travel into someone's present state of mind…' said Phoebe. 'Do you think you could possess them?'

Paige stared at Phoebe in shock. 'Phoebe… Are you still evil?'

Phoebe laughed. 'Paige, of course I am not evil. Why would you say such a thing?'

'Why would you suggest I learn the art of possession? Only evil possess people,' said Paige.

'Only evil possess people because only evil are strong enough from corrupted power,' said Phoebe.

'Hang on, so now you are saying that I am corrupted?' laughed Paige.

'Of course not, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'What I am trying to say is that you are a Charmed One with an amazingly powerful power. I think you could be strong enough to do it.'

'I still do not see why I would actually _want_ to possess someone,' said Paige, taking a spoonful of cereal to eat while she waited for Phoebe to reply.

'Imagine this, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'Prue, Piper, and I are battling a demon. The demon is beating us, because for some strange reason he is uber-strong. You use your telepathy to enter his mind and then to possess him. Once you have him possessed, Prue, Piper, and I would have time to recover while thinking up a vanquishing spell, while you delve through the demon's mind to find out his _evil plan_.'

Paige swallowed her mouthful of cereal while contemplating what Phoebe had said.

'Why did you say 'evil plan' with a weird accent?' asked Paige.

'Not the point, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'What do you think?'

Paige shrugged. 'It could be interesting, but I cannot exactly test the theory out.'

Phoebe grinned. 'I thought you would say that.'

Paige frowned. 'Who are you suggesting I practice on?'

'Prue or Piper as a joke,' said Phoebe.

Paige stood up and took her empty bowl to the sink.

'No, Phoebe,' said Paige.

Phoebe had followed Paige over to the sink.

'Aw, come on, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'It would be fun.'

'Phoebe, aren't you meant to be the older sister out of us two, hence the more responsible one out of us two?' said Paige as she washed the bowl.

'_Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaa se_, Paige,' said Phoebe.

'No. No. No. No. No,' said Paige.

* * *

It had been two weeks since their initial conversation about possession via telepathy. Phoebe and Paige stood in the attic with Prue and Piper. Prue had just cast a worrying spell.

'How about now?' Phoebe thought to Paige.

Paige looked from the three Prue's standing in front of them to Phoebe and sighed. 'Sure,' Paige thought.

'Yay,' thought Phoebe.

The previous day, Phoebe had had a premonition that Prue was going to be stabbed. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige had gone into total defensive mode over Prue's safety. Prue had seemed to think she could handle it on her own, even after barely escaping an attack from the people who wanted to kill her. Phoebe had suggested a 'multiplicity' spell to Prue which Piper and Paige had been against Prue using. However, Prue had cast the spell and the result stood in front of them now: Three Prues.

Phoebe continued thinking in conversation with Paige, 'You really are going to agree to try out possessing one of the Prue clones?'

'Why not?' thought Paige.

The three Prues and Piper left the attic leaving Phoebe and Paige to clear up.

'So,' said Phoebe. 'Which Prue is it going to be?'

'I don't know just yet,' said Paige. 'Phoebe, do you think I am powerful enough?'

Phoebe smiled. 'I don't _think_ you are. I _know_ you are.'

Paige smiled. 'Thanks, Pheebs. You do realise the only reason I am agreeing to attempt to possess a Prue clone is because Prue won't let Piper, you, or me help her with this threat? I only want to possess a Prue clone so as I can be there to help Prue without Prue stopping me.'

Phoebe nodded. 'I know. Why do you think I found that specific spell in the Book? I knew you would agree with the idea of possessing a Prue clone.'

'Sly, Pheebs, very sly,' said Paige.

Phoebe and Paige had finished tidying the attic.

'Say I was successful,' said Paige. 'How do you stop Piper and the real Prue from finding my unconscious body?'

'I will think of something,' said Phoebe.

'Okay. Say you do think of something, what do we do about Piper and the real Prue asking where I have gotten to?' asked Paige.

'We will go down to the kitchen now and you will tell them you are off somewhere,' said Phoebe, pushing Paige out of the attic.

Phoebe and Paige entered the kitchen.

Piper was busy cooking dinner. The three Prues sat at the kitchen table.

'Piper, I thought you had already prepared dinner,' said Paige.

Piper turned around and said, 'Yes, but that was before we had an extra two mouths to feed.'

Piper glared at the three Prues, unsure of which two were the clones and which one was the real Prue.

'Sorry, Piper,' said one of the Prues. 'Trying to stop someone from killing you really works up an appetite.'

'Apparently it multiplies your appetite by three times,' said Piper sarcastically.

Phoebe sat down at the one remaining seat at the kitchen table.

'So Prue,' said Phoebe, addressing all three Prues. 'Seeing as today's outfit multiplied by three with the spell, do you think I could borrow it another time? I mean, when you go back to normal, you will only need one of those outfits. Not all three.'

'Phoebe!' said all three Prues at once.

'Wow, that was quite a chime,' laughed Paige, still standing by the kitchen doorway.

Phoebe looked at Paige and then suddenly remembered, 'Oh, Paige has something to say!'

The three Prues and Piper turned to Paige expectantly.

'Oh… yeah…' said Paige hesitantly. She knew that once she said this she was basically confirming to Phoebe that she would go ahead with the plan. 'I… er… I am leaving town for the next couple of days. I think you can cope without me.'

The three Prues smiled. One of the Prues asked, 'Where are you going, Paige?'

'Er… To New York… To see the Stratton family…' lied Paige.

Piper did not look pleased to hear Paige was going away for a few days.

'Paige, how can you leave when Prue's life is in peril?' said Piper.

Paige felt guilty. 'Piper, I –'

One of the Prues interrupted Paige, and said, 'Piper, leave Paige alone. She can go. I can take care of myself.'

Piper sighed.

Soon dinner was over. With a vote as to who should do the washing up, they had reached stalemate. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige all voted for one of the Prues to do the washing up, while the three Prues had voted that Piper, Phoebe, or Paige should do it as Prue was too busy. It was a battle of stubbornness. Unfortunately for Piper: Prue (times three), Phoebe, and Paige were more stubborn than her. Therefore, Piper gave in and muttered that she would do it otherwise nothing would ever get done.

* * *

Later that night when everyone had gone to sleep, Paige was awoken by a knock on the attic door. The attic door creaked open and Phoebe stuck her head inside.

'Psst, Paige,' whispered Phoebe. 'Are you awake?'

'I am now,' whispered Paige as she stretched.

Phoebe walked into the attic, shutting the door quietly behind her.

'We should do it now,' whispered Phoebe.

'We? I think it is me that is going to have to do it, not you,' whispered Paige.

'Yeah, but I am the one who is going to have to cover for you,' whispered Phoebe.

'Where do you want me to do this?' asked Paige. 'The basement?'

Paige smiled when she saw Phoebe's worried expression. Paige knew that Phoebe would never suggest the basement, especially after what had happened two weeks earlier.

'Where, Pheebs?' asked Paige.

Phoebe beckoned for Paige to follow her as she made her way out of the attic. Paige got up and followed her. They crept down the attic steps as they did not want to wake Prue or Piper. They crept across the landing before creeping down the steps towards the foyer. They crept past the living room towards the kitchen. The two Prue clones were sleeping in the living room, so Phoebe and Paige did not want to wake them.

Phoebe came to a stop in the kitchen.

'Pheebs, are you actually considering the basement?' Paige asked.

Phoebe shook her head. 'I was just trying to remember the spell.'

'The spell?' whispered Paige.

'You'll see,' said Phoebe.

Phoebe ushered Paige into the conservatory and gestured for Paige to sit on the chair.

'You want me to do this in the conservatory, where the Prues or Piper can walk in on me?' whispered Paige confused.

'Paige, trust me,' whispered Phoebe. 'Concentrate on possessing one of the Prue clones. Come in here when you have succeeded and I will show you how I am going to keep your body hidden from Piper and the real Prue, okay?'

Paige sighed. 'Okay.'

Paige sat on the chair, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes.

'I am a Prue clone. I am currently asleep on the sofa in the lounge. I am a Prue clone,' Paige thought.

Suddenly Paige felt dizzy, like her mind had jumped a few thousand miles in a millisecond. She opened her eyes:

_Paige found herself standing in an empty void like she had when she had been inside Phoebe's mind a fortnight ago._

_The void was not as empty as she thought because Paige turned around to see a figure approaching her. It was Prue. Well, the Prue clone._

_'Paige!' shouted the Prue clone. 'Get out of my head.'_

_'I am doing this for the real Prue's own good,' said Paige._

_'What are you doing?' asked the Prue clone._

_'I am taking control!' said Paige._

_Paige closed her eyes, clenched her fists. She took a deep breath._

_'Taking control,' Paige repeated. 'Taking control.'_

Paige opened her eyes. It was dark. She could feel the sofa beneath her. She was lying on the sofa. Paige slowly stood up and walked into the foyer where it was bright enough to look in a mirror.

The reflection staring back at her in the mirror was… it was Prue.

Paige had successfully possessed one of the Prue clones! She had taken control.

Paige made her way into the conservatory where she found Phoebe sitting on a chair. Phoebe had her head in her hands so had not noticed Paige walk in. Paige gaped at seeing her own still body sitting so peacefully on the chair.

Paige cleared her throat and Phoebe looked up.

'Prue?' said Phoebe, obviously not wanting to give too much away in case this was one of the non-possessed Prues and not Paige.

'It worked,' said Paige smiling.

'Paige?' said Phoebe grinning. She jumped up and hugged the Prue clone that was Paige. 'I never thought I would be so happy to see Prue.'

'That sounds weird, Phoebe,' said Paige.

'You sound weird,' said Phoebe.

'I do?' said Paige.

'Well yeah, because you have Prue's voice at the moment,' said Phoebe.

'Oh, this is too weird,' said Paige. She automatically went to tuck a lose strand of her hair behind her ear, and then moaned, 'I don't like how short Prue's hair is.'

'Then after all this is over, make sure never to cut your own hair that short,' said Phoebe. 'I am still trying to grow my own out after the unfortunate decision to have it cut short. I think, by 2003, it will be the length I want it to be.'

Paige laughed. 'Do you think Piper will ever get her hair cut short?'

'Hmm… I doubt it,' said Phoebe. 'I think she will probably get rid of that fringe soon though. We all know that Piper getting a fringe was a mistake.'

Paige laughed again.

'Oh my gosh, that is so freaky!' said Phoebe. 'You are doing Prue's laugh.'

'So how are you going to hide me –' Paige pointed over to her motionless body on the chair '– from Prue, Piper, and the other clone?'

'Thanks to my magnificent spell casting idea,' said Phoebe. She cleared her throat and began to chant:

'_Prue and Piper shall not see,_

_That Paige sits before thee._

_Paige shall remain hidden,_

_Until she finishes a mission that would otherwise be forbidden._'

'That last line was a little long,' laughed Paige.

'Well, let's hope the spell worked,' said Phoebe, ignoring Paige's insult towards Phoebe's spell craftsmanship.

'I am sure it did, Pheebs,' said Paige. 'You are the best out of all of us at making up your own spells.'

Phoebe smiled. Paige yawned.

'I am tired,' said Paige. 'I think I will go back to the attic.'

'Sorry, Paige, but you are going to have to go back to the living room and sleep in there,' said Phoebe.

Paige groaned. 'Phoebe, your idea is already getting on my nerves.'

'Wow,' said Phoebe. 'If you did not sound like Prue before, you definitely do now.'

'I hate it when you are right,' sighed Paige.

Phoebe laughed. 'Okay, now you are sounding less like Prue. There is no way she would _ever_ admit to me being right.'

Paige smiled.

'Wake me in the morning if I am not up when everyone else is up,' said Paige as she wandered out of the conservatory.

'You are supposed to be Prue,' said Phoebe. 'Prue is never the last up – clone or not.'

Paige groaned. The only part of the following day that she was looking forward to was making sure that her eldest sister staid safe from the magical, fatal threat.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow. No cliff hanger. That's strange. Anyway, just to clear things up: While Paige is possessing the Prue clone, I am still going to keep referring to her as Paige in the narrative, otherwise it would get far too confusing if I started calling her 'the possessed Prue clone' or 'Pink Prue' – ah, look, I have already given away which Prue clone she has possessed before Phoebe has even gotten around to issuing colour coded sweaters (They are cardigans in the show! Why do they call them sweaters? Or is that just an American term?).


	39. WhichPrueIsItAnyway (AndAStabAtMeddling)

**A/N:** It annoys me that I have to use a lot of canon lines in this chapter, but they are surrounded by Paige's perspective narration. As a response to one of the previous chapter's reviews: Telepathy cannot lead to the power to possess, but this is magic so anything can happen, plus I think being Charmed can make it powerful enough to lead to the power to possess.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty Nine: Which Prue Is It, Anyway? (And Another Stab At Meddling)**

Paige found herself being shaken awake the following morning. She opened her eyes to see Prue standing above her.

'Prue?' said Paige.

'Prue, the other Prue is using the downstairs bathroom right now and I have just finished in the upstairs bathroom. You may want to get in there before Piper, Phoebe, or Paige wake up and go to use it. Quickly, or there won't be any hot water left.'

Paige stared at Prue. Did Prue just call her Prue? Then Paige remembered the events of the previous night. She was still possessing one of the Prue clones. Paige could not even tell if the Prue who had just spoken to her was the real one or the other clone.

Paige got up and ran to the upstairs bathroom. Even though Prue had only given her the heads up on the bathroom vacancy because she thought that Paige was a Prue clone, Paige still wanted to make sure that she got some hot water from the shower.

Remembering that she was possessing a Prue clone, Paige decided to only wash her hair and face and then keep her eyes shut while changing outfit.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. Through the bathroom door, Paige heard Phoebe shout:

'Hello? There are other people in this house that have hair styling needs too!'

Paige then heard Phoebe start talking to Piper directly outside the bathroom door. Paige decided to have a little fun and not let Phoebe know whether she was the possessed Prue clone or the Prue clone or the real Prue.

Paige opened the bathroom door.

'Is there a problem?' asked Paige.

Piper and Phoebe turned to her.

'Aside from you going off and casting a spell that's kept all our bathrooms busy for the past three hours. Nothing,' said Piper irritably.

Paige shrugged. 'Don't blame me. I didn't cast the spell.' It was true. She hadn't because she was not actually Prue – obviously Piper was not to know that though.

Paige noticed that Phoebe was staring at her.

'Paige, is that you?' thought Phoebe.

Paige decided not to answer Phoebe's thought. Phoebe could keep trying to guess.

Phoebe had obviously come to the conclusion that Paige was not the possessed Prue clone, because Phoebe said, 'Great, you are a clone!'

Paige shrugged. She went to leave the bathroom and began to walk down the hall.

'Whether you are a clone or not, this is still your fault!' Paige heard Piper yell after her.

Paige turned around. 'No, it's not, and neither is the lack of hot water.'

As Paige walked away she stifled a giggle. Phoebe had been right. Annoying Prue and Piper was fun – even if Paige was tricking Phoebe at the moment too by not letting her know which one she was.

* * *

Paige went down the stairs to the foyer. The other two Prues were down there.

'Hi Prue,' said Paige nonchalantly.

'Hey Prue,' replied the other two Prues.

'You look great,' one of the Prues said to the other Prue.

'No, you look great,' said the other Prue.

Paige decided that she had to join in so as she did not raise suspicions. 'Is my skirt tight enough?'

'Yes,' said one of the Prues.

'It's perfect,' said the other Prue.

Wow, that was weird.

Piper and Phoebe came down the stairs and stopped to stare at all three Prues. Phoebe was holding three different coloured sweaters.

'Paige,' thought Phoebe. 'Give me a sign. Which one are you?'

Paige decided not to reply. It was fun annoying Phoebe like this.

'Okay, which one of you is the real Prue?' asked Phoebe.

Paige noticed both of the other Prues begin to raise their hands, so she raised her hand too.

'Stop that,' moaned Piper.

The real Prue suddenly stepped forward and said, 'I am the real Prue.'

Phoebe nodded and handed the real Prue the black sweater and then explained that she was colour coding.

Phoebe then looked from Paige to the Prue clone – except in Phoebe's eyes they were both Prue clones.

'Paige,' Phoebe thought. 'Last chance to tell me which one you are. If you give me a sign as to which one you are, you can choose the colour sweater you get.'

Paige gave in. She really wanted the blue sweater. Blue goes better than pink on most outfits.

'Pheebs, I am the clone closest to the stairs,' thought Paige. 'Gimme the blue sweater, please.'

Phoebe smiled and made eye contact with Paige.

'Okay, clone A gets the pink sweater,' said Phoebe, handing Paige the pink sweater.

'Pheebs!' thought Paige annoyed. 'Why did you give me the _pink_ sweater?'

Phoebe handed the other clone the blue sweater.

'Payback for using up the hot water,' thought Phoebe.

Paige put on the pink sweater.

* * *

The Prues, Piper, and Phoebe started to discuss how the spell was only temporary and that as soon as the threat was gone the clones would go away too. Paige was actually finding it kind of fun joining in with the conversation, having the real Prue actually listen to her plan idea.

When Piper asked Prue whether she would have the power to do the job, the real Prue smiled and looked at the Prue clone and Paige. 'Shall we ladies?'

Paige quickly read Prue's mind to find out what she was indicating for the Prue clones to do. Prue wanted them to lift Grams' ugly statue together. Paige suddenly panicked. The Prue clones should have telekinesis, but Paige was possessing a Prue clone. Would she be able to get Prue's power to work?

Paige took a deep breath. The real Prue and blue Prue were squinting at the statue.

'Come on, Prue,' said the real Prue to Paige.

Paige squinted at the statue. She felt no different.

'Go up, statue,' muttered Paige under her breath.

With the combination of the three Prue's powers, the statue began to levitate. However, it had a little blue glow beneath it – it almost looked like Paige's version of Prue's telekinesis power, like when she had gotten the three sisters' powers. The Prues, Piper, and Phoebe seemed oblivious to the blue glow beneath the floating statue.

'Enough said,' said the real Prue. Together Prue, blue Prue, and Paige let go of the statue, which dropped to the ground.

Piper looked around the foyer.

'Does anyone know where Paige is?' Piper asked.

'Er,' said Phoebe. 'Paige said she was leaving for New York, didn't she?'

'Yeah, but she was here when we all went to our own rooms for bed last night,' said Piper. 'I thought she was leaving this morning.'

'Er, I think she left before we all got up,' said Phoebe.

'That's strange. She did not say goodbye,' said Piper. 'I was going to offer to drive her to the airport.'

'She, er, took her own car,' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, Paige hasn't got a car,' said Prue. 'Those auto shop kidnappers stole her car and she has not gotten a new one yet.'

'Oh yeah,' said Phoebe.

'Paige probably took a taxi,' said Paige.

The real Prue smiled. 'Good thinking, Prue.'

The doorbell and phone rang simultaneously.

'I will get that,' said Paige, referring to the door.

Paige opened the door to see Andy. Andy asked to come in, but Paige decided it was not the best time. Then Andy suddenly said he was there for a social call.

Paige was surprised. Did Andy Trudeau actually admit for once that he had come to Halliwell manor for personal reasons rather than hiding it behind work?

'Social call? Really? Now you are starting to look suspicious,' said Paige. 'You know how I always moan at you about hiding your social calls behind work.'

'Er… Prue, you don't,' said Andy. 'That is what Paige does and we both find it extremely annoying.'

'Oh… yeah,' said Paige, annoyed at her slip of the tongue. She had to remember to act like Prue.

Andy gave Paige two tickets to the awards show that he had ordered.

'You can take anyone you want, even an old boyfriend who's just an old friend now, but who loves good music,' said Andy.

Paige took the hint and decided she may as well make the push while she was pretending to be Prue.

'Andy, come with me,' said Paige.

Andy blushed. 'Are you sure, Prue? It won't be awkward?'

'I am sure,' smiled Paige. 'I want to spend that time with you.'

Paige felt herself being dragged by an unseen person into the living room.

'Bye Andy!' shouted Paige. 'See you at the awards show!'

Paige turned around to see Prue staring at her.

'What?' asked Paige.

'Prue, why did you say that to Andy?' moaned Prue. 'I would have just told Andy that I would consider his idea! Why did you ask him out?'

'You know as well as I do that you want to be at that awards show with him,' said Paige.

Prue went red with embarrassment.

'Why did we break up with him?' Paige asked. She thought she might be able to get the real answer out of Prue as Prue thought she was talking to herself. However Prue's answer was not really an answer but a statement: that Andy broke up with her first.

Paige shrugged. Too bad. Prue and Andy were perfect for one another.

* * *

Paige made the decision to go with Prue to work while blue Prue would accompany Piper to Quake. Piper opposed this idea. However, because Phoebe knew that pink Prue was possessed by Paige, she was not so against the idea.

Prue looked at Phoebe in surprise.

'Pheebs, you actually agree with me?' said Prue.

'Not exactly,' mumbled Phoebe. 'I just believe that your clones will help to keep you safe.'

Piper stormed out of the manor. Blue Prue decided to follow Piper as this was Piper's exit for work – as well as her way of showing Prue and Phoebe that she was ticked off with them.

Prue and Paige made their way over to Prue's car. Paige went to get into the driver's seat.

Prue gave Paige a warning look.

'What?' laughed Paige. She wanted to try and win the 'who is going to drive argument', so added, 'I am you too, you know, so this is kind of my car too.' Okay, that was a lie, because she was not Prue, she was Paige, but Prue did not need to know that.

Paige continued to get into the driver's seat. Prue got into the passenger's seat.

'Fine, but one of us is going to have to keep hidden,' said Prue.

'Well, I cannot keep hidden,' laughed Paige. 'I am driving.'

Prue rolled her eyes.

Paige parked in the Bucklands car park and was about to get out of the car when Prue stopped her.

'Take this,' said Prue, handing Paige a magazine.

Paige stared at the magazine, not taking it.

'I have read that one already,' said Paige.

'Prue, it is to hide behind,' said Prue. 'We cannot walk in there side by side. People will get confused.'

'Can't you use the 'Have you met my twin?' excuse?' said Paige.

'Seriously, I am not that stupid, am I?' muttered Prue.

Paige looked at Prue in confusion. Then she suddenly realised that Prue was insulting Paige's intelligence, even if Prue thought that Paige was Prue.

Possession was a confusing thing. Paige decided she would never listen to Phoebe again about doing it, unless she was forced to.

Paige had refused to take the magazine, so as they walked into the office building, Prue was forced to keep hiding her face behind the magazine.

Someone started to walk towards Prue and Paige, so Paige pushed Prue into the wall so as she would not be noticed.

'Hello Miss Halliwell,' said the person. 'Is there anything you need?'

Paige looked at the person. She did not recognise them. The last time Paige had been at Bucklands was when she was under the 'Sleep Dispossession' charm, and she did not remember meeting this person on that day.

'Er,' said Paige. 'Look over there!'

The person looked behind them. Not stopping to gawp at the fact that the distraction actually worked, Paige ran over to Prue, snatched the magazine, and pushed Prue into the corridor, while Paige hid behind the magazine.

The person had turned around before Prue had a chance to yell at herself. Straight away the person noticed that Prue had changed sweaters.

'Wasn't that pink before?' asked the person.

'Black suits me better,' said Prue.

'Oh okay. I have the information you needed, Miss Halliwell,' said the person. She handed Prue a piece of paper. Paige suddenly realised that this was Prue's assistant.

'Gabriel Statler's address? Thanks,' said Prue. 'Go take a break. You have earned it.'

'Thank you, Miss Halliwell,' said the assistant.

The assistant walked down the corridor.

'Get in here, now,' hissed Prue, beckoning Paige to come into her office.

Paige walked into Prue's office and Prue shut the door.

'You are not me,' said Prue.

'How did you figure that out?' asked Paige. Had Prue realised that it was Paige?

'You have not been acting like me all morning,' said Prue. 'The real indicator came when you did not even know that she was my assistant.'

'Prue, don't hate me –' began Paige but Prue interrupted her.

'That is an odd thing for a demon to say…' said Prue.

'A demon?' said Paige.

Prue squinted at a chair. It went flying at Paige, pinning her to the office wall.

'My life is at threat from some other enemies at the moment,' said Prue. 'I could do without a demon choosing to possess my clone just so as they can get close enough to my sisters and I just to attack us!'

'Prue!' said Paige, struggling against the force of the chair, but it was no use. Prue had her trapped.

Prue squinted at a letter opener which floated into the air. The sharp end was pointed in Paige's direction.

Paige gulped. She did not need to read Prue's mind to figure out where Prue was about to send that letter opener.

'I assume that vanquishing my clone will vanquish you,' shouted Prue.

'Prue, I am not a demon!' shouted Paige.

Prue rolled her eyes. 'I think any demon would say that!'

'No, really, I am not a demon!' shouted Paige. 'I am –'

Prue squinted at some tape and it covered Paige's mouth up so as she could not speak.

'Mmmph!' shouted Paige, but her voice was muffled.

Prue squinted at the letter opener again and it began to fly towards Paige. Paige closed her eyes. She could not watch.

* * *

**A/N:** Short chapter, I know, but I really wanted to end with this as a cliff hanger. Wow, almost three hundred reviews.


	40. WhichPrueIsItAnyway (And Phantom Wounds)

**A/N:** Fast update to be nice. Please ignore the fact that Prue's car somehow magically gets from Bucklands to the manor without anyone driving it there – let's just consider that Andy could have dropped it off at the manor when he went to tell Phoebe that Prue (Pink Prue) was dead.

* * *

**Chapter Forty: Which Prue Is It, Anyway? (And Phantom Wounds)**

Paige squeezed her eyes shut. She did not want to see the letter opener connect with her. Then she suddenly remembered. She was only in the Prue clone's body mentally. Therefore the letter opener connecting with the Prue clone would only kill the Prue clone and would probably send Paige back safely to her own body.

Paige opened her eyes, wondering why she had not felt the contact of the letter opener yet.

The letter opener was frozen in the air, inches from Paige. It was not frozen by the power to freeze. It was frozen because Prue had stopped it. Prue looked pale and was staring directly at Paige.

Prue ripped the tape from Paige's mouth and said, 'Paige?'

Paige smiled. 'Yes! Hang on, between thinking I was a demon and trying to vanquish me with a letter opener, how did you realise it was me?'

'You just told me,' said Prue.

'I did?' said Paige confused. 'Damn! Do I not have full control over my telepathic powers like I thought I had?'

'Your panic obviously made you send telepathic thoughts to me without even noticing,' laughed Prue. 'I wouldn't be mad if I were you. It kind of saved your life.'

Paige laughed. 'No. I would have been fine. All this meant was that your Prue clone is still standing.'

Prue squinted at the letter opener. It returned to the desk. She then squinted at the chair. It flew back neatly to the floor by the desk, releasing Paige.

'Sit down, Paige,' said Prue. 'We need to talk about why you are pretending to be me.'

Paige smiled weakly. 'I was not pretending to be you, I was pretending to be a Prue clone.'

'Paige,' said Prue impatiently. 'What have you done? Is this a potion or a spell that makes you look like me?'

'Er, no…' said Paige. 'Well, er, actually it kind of is a spell. Well, actually it's your spell.'

'Paige, I don't understand,' said Prue.

'You cast the spell to make the Prue clone,' said Paige. 'I just used my power to possess her.'

'What?' shouted Prue. 'Paige!'

'Calm down, Prue,' said Paige. 'It is not like I am evil or anything.'

'That is not the point, Paige,' said Prue. 'You did this to spy on me.'

'Not to spy on you, to make sure you stay safe,' said Paige.

Before Prue could reply, there was a knock on the office door. Prue and Paige exchanged looks.

'Duck behind the desk like last time I was here?' thought Paige to Prue.

Prue nodded.

Paige ducked behind Prue's desk, while Prue went to open the door. It was Claire. A few minutes later Prue closed the door. Paige stood up.

'What's going on?' asked Paige.

Prue was putting documents into her bag.

'_I_ am going with Claire to the Statler's place,' said Prue.

'What? Prue! That is dangerous!' said Paige.

'Don't worry,' said Prue. 'I will make sure to take Claire to the wrong place.'

'Prue…' said Paige.

'Paige, don't worry,' said Prue. Then Prue chucked Paige her car keys. 'Claire is taking me in her car, so here are my car keys if you want to get home.'

Prue left the office.

Paige stood in the silence of the empty office for a couple of minutes, wondering what to do. Should she give up possessing the Prue clone and go back to her own body? Or should she see if she could still help Prue even if Prue knew the truth?

Paige sighed. She was not just going to stand around and do nothing. She was going to see if she could find Gabriel herself. Gabriel would think that she was Prue, and that would at least mean the real Prue would be safe for now.

Paige left the office and ran into the corridor. She bumped into Prue's assistant.

'I am so sorry, Miss Halliwell!' said the assistant. 'I thought you had left with Claire.'

'I, er, I came back for something,' said Paige. 'I am in a rush, bye!'

Paige took the elevator down to the car park. As the elevator doors opened onto the car park, something round rolled in. It emitted a bright light which blinded Paige.

Paige could not see anything, but she could hear a man laughing: Gabriel.

'Blinded by the light,' laughed Gabriel.

Remembering how her version of telekinesis worked, Paige said, 'Sword!'

Paige felt the sword appear in her hands.

'What?' said Gabriel in shock. 'First we thought you channelled your power through your hands just for you to channel it through your eyes, and now I find out that you can use your power verbally too? Make your mind up, witch!'

Paige could now see the blurry outline of the figure that was Gabriel. She ran towards him with the sword.

However, Gabriel grabbed the sword and forced it back into his ownership. Before Paige knew what had hit her, Gabriel was forcing the sword into her.

Paige gasped and shut her eyes.

* * *

Paige fell forward. She opened her eyes. She had fallen onto the floor of the conservatory in Halliwell manor. She was back in her own body. Her breaths were short and fast. Although Paige had not physically been stabbed, she felt as though she had been. Slowly, Paige tried to stand up. She could not find the strength to do so.

Phoebe came running into the conservatory. She must have heard Paige fall to the floor.

'Paige!' shouted Phoebe.

Phoebe helped Paige to her feet.

'Are you okay?' said Phoebe, hugging her little sister.

Phoebe helped Paige over to the chair. Paige was holding her hand over her stomach where she had been stabbed, even though it was not her who had been stabbed, she could still feel it as if the wound her been her own.

'What happened, Paige?' Phoebe asked worriedly.

'Gabriel killed Pink Prue,' Paige said between gasps of pain.

'I don't care about Pink Prue,' said Phoebe. 'I care about you. Are you okay?'

'I don't know why it hurts as if I was the one who got stabbed, but it does,' said Paige between more gasps of pain.

'Paige, you will be okay,' said Phoebe.

Paige smiled although she was sure her expression was still one of pain. 'At least it was not the real Prue that Gabriel got to,' said Paige.

'Obviously I am relieved he did not kill our sister, but I would have preferred that he had killed Blue Prue than real or Pink Prue,' said Phoebe.

Paige let out a small laugh between gasps of pain. Phoebe got up and went to the kitchen. She came back with a glass of water which she handed to Paige.

Paige noticed that Phoebe was wearing a track suit.

'What have you been up to today?' Paige asked Phoebe between her gasps of pain.

'Well, I was home alone with nothing better to do than continue practicing martial arts,' said Phoebe.

'Poor mannequin,' Paige said weakly.

Paige took a sip of water.

'So how do we contact Leo?' Phoebe suddenly asked.

Paige almost choked on her water. 'What?'

'Paige, I know that you know about Leo. Just admit it,' said Phoebe. 'I also know that he has the power to heal. You may not be physically wounded, but you are in a lot of pain. Now tell me how we contact Leo so as he will turn up and help.'

'I don't know what you are talking about,' lied Paige between gasps of pain.

'Paige, tell me how to contact Leo,' said Phoebe. 'I know you know.'

'You know I know what?' said Paige.

'Come on, Paige! You know that Leo is our white lighter!' shouted Phoebe.

Paige shrugged. Phoebe stood up in anger.

'Fine, Paige! Sit there in pain!' shouted Phoebe.

Phoebe stormed out of the conservatory. A minute or two later Paige could hear Phoebe punching the mannequin quite loudly. Paige wondered whether Phoebe was imagining that the mannequin was Paige.

* * *

Paige finished her glass of water. She slowly reached down to put it on the table.

Paige heard the front door open. She then heard Prue and Piper speaking. She heard them stop to talk to Phoebe in the hallway.

'Phoebe, what's wrong?' asked Piper.

'Well, Pink Prue is dead,' said Phoebe.

'Oh my gosh,' said Piper. 'Is the real Prue okay?'

Paige suddenly realised that the Prue she had heard talking a few minutes earlier must have been Blue Prue.

'I don't know,' said Phoebe. 'Paige was the last person to see real Prue.'

'Paige? I thought she was in New York?' said Blue Prue.

Phoebe hesitated. 'That was a ruse.'

'Phoebe,' said Piper in that tone that everyone used when saying Phoebe's name.

'What? Piper, don't moan at me. I think Paige is hurt, but she won't let me help her,' said Phoebe.

'What do you mean hurt?' gasped Piper. 'What did you make Paige do? Did she try to protect Pink Prue? Did Gabriel hurt Paige too?'

'Paige is in the conservatory,' said Phoebe.

Piper came running into the conservatory with an anxious expression, closely followed by Phoebe and Blue Prue.

Piper looked right past Paige and did not make eye contact with her.

'Phoebe, I thought you said Paige was in here,' said Piper anxiously.

'She is,' said Phoebe, pointing directly at Paige. 'Right there.'

'Where?' said Piper, looking everywhere around the conservatory except for where Paige sat.

'_Right here_,' said Phoebe, walking over to Paige and putting her hands on Paige's shoulders.

Piper looked directly at Paige, but her expression did not change.

'Phoebe, that is an empty seat,' said Piper.

'No, Paige is right here,' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, Piper is right,' said Blue Prue. 'No one is sitting there.'

'No one was asking you,' Piper and Phoebe moaned at Blue Prue.

Blue Prue rolled her eyes. 'Don't moan at me! I am your older sister! Besides Piper, I was agreeing with you!'

'Yes, but you are not Prue,' said Piper.

Blue Prue sighed and left the conservatory.

'Piper, can we get back to the fact that you cannot see Paige, please?' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe,' said Paige weakly. 'Do you think this has anything to do with the spell that you cast earlier?'

'The spell?' said Phoebe. 'Oh, the spell!'

'What spell?' asked Piper.

'The spell that Phoebe cast to make sure you and Prue could not see me,' said Paige.

'What spell, Phoebe?' Piper repeated.

Paige sighed. 'Apparently, Pheebs, your spell also made it so as they could not hear me either. _Thanks_.'

Paige clenched her stomach tighter. She could still feel the pain of being stabbed.

'Sorry, Paige,' said Phoebe. Then she looked over at Piper. 'Piper, Paige is sitting right here. Earlier, I cast a spell on her so as you and Prue could not see her.'

'Why would you do that?' asked Piper slowly.

'Paige was… using her… telepathy power to…' began Phoebe hesitantly.

'Phoebe,' said Piper.

'To… Well, I asked her if she could use it to… to possess…' continued Phoebe.

'_Possess_? _Possess_! What part of that word does not sound dangerous or evil?' shouted Piper.

'Piper, don't freak out! Paige is a Charmed One, she has the power to do it,' said Phoebe. 'It was a way of one of us keeping our eye on the real Prue without Prue moaning.'

'So Prue did not know she was Paige?' asked Piper.

Paige laughed weakly. 'She found out.'

Phoebe turned to Paige. 'She did? Really, you could not even manage to act like Prue for a few hours without Prue noticing?'

'Er, Pheebs, you are going to need to communicate to me what Paige is saying,' said Piper. 'I feel a little left out in this conversation.'

'Paige just told me that Prue found out what she was doing,' said Phoebe. 'I don't understand why you cannot see Paige. I made sure to say in the spell the words that Paige would only remain hidden 'Until she finishes a mission that would otherwise be forbidden'. She finished the mission, because she is back in her own body.'

'I haven't finished the mission, have I?' muttered Paige.

'What do you mean, Paige? Of course you have!' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, maybe Paige has not finished the mission,' said Piper.

'Are you sure you cannot hear Paige, because you practically just said the same thing as her, Piper?' laughed Phoebe.

'Phoebe, you know how the Prue clones – well, actually, just Blue Prue now. You know how Blue Prue will not disappear until the threat is over,' began Paige. 'Well, maybe your spell thinks my 'mission' is not over until Gabriel is out of the picture.'

'Phoebe, don't you remember? The Prue clones will only disappear after the job they were cast for is done,' said Piper, amazingly with good enough timing not to start talking over Paige who she could not hear. 'Maybe your spell wording relates to that as the mission, so Prue and I will not be able to see Paige until Gabriel is vanquished.'

Phoebe looked from Piper to Paige. 'Piper, you just said the exact same thing as Paige _again_. How do you manage that?'

Paige laughed weakly. 'Great minds think alike.'

Piper was about to open her mouth to say something, but Phoebe stopped her.

'If you say 'Great minds think alike', I think I will pull my head off,' said Phoebe.

'So, Paige is sitting right there?' said Piper, pointing over at Paige.

Phoebe nodded. Piper walked over to the chair.

The doorbell rang. Phoebe left to answer it. Blue Prue returned to the conservatory. Piper rolled her eyes.

'So is Paige still in here?' asked Blue Prue.

'Yes,' said Paige even though she knew they could not hear her.

'I don't actually know,' said Piper. 'She could have gone to see who was at the front door with Phoebe.'

Paige slowly leant down to pick the empty glass up from the table to give Piper an indication that she was still there.

'A floating glass,' said Piper. 'Thanks for letting us know you are still here, Paige.'

'A floating glass,' said Blue Prue. 'I can do that too.'

Prue squinted at one of the glass cabinets in the conservatory and some glasses came floating out.

Piper looked at the floating glass that she knew Paige was holding up.

'Paige, I am going to go and see who Phoebe is talking to, okay?' said Piper. Piper was saying it loudly and slowly as if Paige was deaf.

'You are the one who cannot hear me,' Paige laughed to herself. 'Not the other way around.'

'Come with me, Blue Prue,' said Piper. 'We have things to discuss.'

'You know you don't need to boss me around,' said Blue Prue, following Piper out of the conservatory. 'Besides, Piper, I think if you were to act bossier at Quake it would do you good.'

Even though they were now wandering down the hallway, Paige heard Piper's reply: 'If you have anymore ideas about how to rearrange my business, you can save it…'

Piper and Blue Prue were now too far from the conservatory for her to discern their words.

Paige dropped the glass so as she could clench her fists. The pain had not worn off yet. Paige actually felt as if she had in fact been stabbed in the stomach. She kept looking to check that she was not bleeding, but there was nothing to show she had been stabbed, because she had not been… not physically.

* * *

After ten minutes, Paige suddenly heard footsteps hurrying back towards the conservatory.

'We have just had a whole conversation about what has happened today with me, and you guys forgot to tell me that Paige was here!' Paige could hear Prue saying.

'Prue, there is something else we have not told you yet,' Paige heard Phoebe reply.

'Phoebe, I have already told you that I know she was possessing Pink Prue. With Pink Prue dead, I have to check on Paige. You said she was hurt,' continued Prue.

'Listen to Phoebe,' said Piper. 'There is something else you need to know.'

Prue had finally entered the conservatory. She stopped and noticed that she could not see Paige anywhere. Piper, Phoebe, and Blue Prue entered behind her.

'Paige has left!' moaned Prue. 'What if she went to face Gabriel alone?'

'What? So it is okay for you to face him alone, but not Paige or us?' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, is Paige still here?' asked Piper.

'What are you talking about, Piper?' asked Prue. 'Of course she is not here!'

'Come on, Prue! Tell me why it is okay for _you_ to face a threat alone – specifically a threat that is after you – and not for one of us to face that same threat alone! All the logic points to it being safer for us than you!' shouted Phoebe.

It looked like an argument was about to erupt between Prue and Phoebe.

'Phoebe!' shouted Blue Prue.

Phoebe glared at Blue Prue. 'Stay out of this! I am arguing with the real Prue!'

'Phoebe, is Paige still here?' repeated Piper.

'Phoebe, I am the strongest out of the three – sorry that was a slip of the tongue – I am the strongest out of the _four_ of us! It would be safer for me to go alone than you or Piper or Paige!' shouted Prue.

'That makes no sense, because you are their target! They would want you to come!' shouted Phoebe.

'_Phoebe, is Paige still here?_' repeated Piper shrilly.

Prue, Phoebe, and Blue Prue turned to Piper.

'Of course Paige is not still here, Piper,' said Prue matter-of-factly.

'Prue, that is kind of the issue Piper and Phoebe were trying to address on the way into the conservatory,' said Blue Prue.

'What do you mean, Prue?' asked Prue. Then Prue turned to Piper and Phoebe, and asked, 'What's going on?'

Phoebe explained all about the spell.

After Phoebe had explained, Piper asked for the fourth time, 'Phoebe, is Paige still here?'

'She is still sitting in the chair over there,' said Phoebe. As Phoebe said this, she turned around to look at Paige. This was the first time Phoebe had looked over at Paige since entering the conservatory. Phoebe's face dropped when she saw Paige. 'Oh my gosh, Paige!'

Phoebe ran over to Paige. Prue, Piper, and Blue Prue followed her.

'What's wrong?' asked Prue, Piper, and Blue Prue all at once.

'Paige. She is really pale,' answered Phoebe. Then Phoebe asked Paige, 'Paige, are you okay? You do not look very well.'

'The… stab… bing… pain… is… get… ting… worse,' said Paige very hoarsely.

'What's wrong? What did she say?' asked Piper.

'You remember I said that Paige felt like she had been stabbed even though she was not actually stabbed?' began Phoebe.

'I had that pain for a couple of seconds too,' said Prue. 'That is how I knew one of the Prue clones had died.'

'Yeah well, Paige still has that pain,' said Phoebe. 'And even though Paige has no actual wound, I think this could be really bad…'

'Pheebs, you are going to have to take her to the hospital,' said Piper.

Phoebe nodded and helped Paige to her feet.

'Whose car can I take?' Phoebe asked.

'Take the jeep,' said Piper.

'I think that is a little high,' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, you are not that short,' said Prue.

'No, what I mean is, I do not think Paige can manage to step up into it, and none of you will be able to lift her up into it,' said Phoebe.

Prue sighed. 'Fine, Pheebs, take my car.'

'Thanks,' said Phoebe.

Phoebe helped Paige into Prue's car. Paige lay down across the backseat, while Phoebe sat in the driver's seat. Phoebe began to drive away from Halliwell manor.

'Will… Prue… be… o… kay?' asked Paige, still clenching her stomach.

'Don't worry about Prue right now. Her, Piper, and Blue Prue can sort things out,' said Phoebe. 'We need to focus on you.'

Phoebe pulled over a couple of blocks away from Halliwell manor. They had not reached the hospital.

Phoebe looked at Paige.

'Why… have… we… stopped?' asked Paige. Her breath was becoming shallower.

'You know as well as I do that the hospital cannot help you,' said Phoebe. 'You have the symptoms of being stabbed, but no actual wounds to show for it.'

Paige did not reply. She had a feeling she knew what Phoebe was going to ask.

'Leo, he heals,' said Phoebe. 'Tell me how to contact him. He may be able to help you.'

Paige knew that Phoebe was right, but Leo had asked for Paige to try and hide from Phoebe that Paige knew about Leo. However, Phoebe was right. Leo could heal Paige. Paige definitely needed him right now.

'Call… for… him…' said Paige between gasps of pain.

'Call him?' said Phoebe confused. 'I don't have his phone number, Paige. What's his phone number? Hang on, I did not even bring my phone with me!'

'No… call… his… name…' gasped Paige.

'Oh!' said Phoebe in understanding. 'Okay, this is going to be awkward. Er, Leo? Leo. Can you hear me? Leo!'

Phoebe jumped as a flurry of blue and white orbs appeared forming the figure of Leo in the passenger's seat.

'Hi Phoebe. It has been a while,' said Leo. 'What do you need?'

Still stunned from seeing Leo appear like that, Phoebe said nothing and just pointed to the backseat. Leo turned around and saw Paige lying on it.

'Paige!' said Leo. 'Paige! What's wrong? Are you hurt?'

Paige could not reply. She was in too much pain.

Phoebe had found her voice so explained for Paige. 'Paige was using her telepathy power to be inside someone's mind. That person happened to be stabbed to death while Paige was there. Paige seems to have the symptoms of the stabbing, but no wounds. Leo, please heal her!'

Leo nodded. He stretched over to the back seat and hovered his hands over Paige's stomach. Leo's hands glowed.

Paige could feel her breathing returning to normal. The pain was subsiding and she was slowly feeling better. Leo took his hands away and Paige sat up with ease.

'Thank you,' Paige said to Leo.

'No problem,' smiled Leo.

'I knew that you were lying about Leo,' said Phoebe.

'Er, I think someone is calling me,' said Leo, obviously coming up with an excuse to escape the tension. 'Bye Phoebe. Bye Paige.'

Leo orbed out.

'I wish I could make an excuse and disappear like that,' said Paige.

'Paige, why have you been lying to me about the fact that Leo is a white lighter this whole time?' asked Phoebe.

'Was it really a lie, Pheebs?' asked Paige.

'Well, yes. You did lie,' said Phoebe.

'Did I, though? I mean, you knew that I knew about Leo all along,' said Paige.

'Yes, I knew that you knew, but you kept lying about it, so it was a lie,' said Phoebe.

Paige smiled weakly. 'Please don't be mad.'

'I want to know why you kept trying to make it sound like you did not know,' said Phoebe.

'Does it matter why? You knew I knew the whole time since you found out about Leo,' said Paige.

'Yes, it matters why. Were you trying to cover for him?' asked Phoebe.

Paige sighed. 'Well, he asked me to pretend I did not know even though he had let it slip to you. I especially had to pretend not to know when you tried to tell Prue and Piper. They cannot know!'

'Okay,' said Phoebe. 'Is there anything else you have not told me?'

'No,' lied Paige. Phoebe did not need to know that Paige was Leo's adopted daughter.

Phoebe shrugged. She turned the ignition back on.

'Phoebe, where are you going?' asked Paige.

'Back to the manor, why?' said Phoebe.

'We cannot go back to the manor,' said Paige.

Phoebe switched off the ignition. 'Why?'

'Prue and Piper thought that you were taking me to the hospital. We would not have been to and gotten discharged from the hospital this fast. We cannot let them know what Leo is, remember? So we cannot tell them that I got healed by a white lighter,' said Paige.

Phoebe sighed. 'You are right. Okay, well, let's go someplace to eat.'

Paige nodded. She jumped out of the back seat and got into the passenger's seat at the front.

'Let's go,' said Paige.

Phoebe smiled and began to drive again.

* * *

When Phoebe and Paige returned to Halliwell manor that evening, Prue was exiting the manor with Andy.

'Where are you two going at this late hour?' laughed Phoebe.

'To the morgue,' said Andy.

'Sounds romantic,' laughed Paige.

'Paige!' said Prue, hugging Paige.

'Hey Prue, good to see you too,' said Paige.

'Er, Prue, you can see your sister anytime,' said Andy. 'We have got official business to attend to.'

Prue released Paige and nodded.

'See you two later,' said Prue.

'I hope you can still _see_ me later,' laughed Paige.

Phoebe and Paige continued into the manor. The place was a wreck.

'What happened here?' asked Phoebe.

'Oh, Gabriel came by. Don't worry, Prue and I vanquished him,' said Piper. She had not looked up from sweeping the floor yet. When she did look up, she dropped the broom and ran over to Paige.

'Paige!' said Piper happily.

'I assume that the 'mission' in Phoebe's spell is over then,' said Paige.

'Gladly,' said Phoebe. 'So we do not have to worry about someone wanting to stab Prue anymore?'

'Not until the next demon turns up,' said Piper. 'Paige, are you okay now? Phoebe said you were hurt before?'

Phoebe and Paige exchanged looks.

'Er, yeah, I was hurt,' said Paige. 'I am better now. It was nothing, really. Don't worry, Piper. I am fine now.'

'Out of all us, Piper deserves the most to know who Leo really is,' thought Phoebe.

'Phoebe, we cannot tell Piper,' thought Paige.

'Are you two having a telepathic conversation without me?' asked Piper, who had noticed the eye contact exchange between Phoebe and Paige in the silence.

'Of course not,' lied Paige.

'Tell her, Paige, or one of these days I will,' thought Phoebe.

* * *

**A/N:** Whoa, a bit of an ultimatum from Phoebe there. Even though, I think it may be a bit of an empty threat, because I think I want _Love Hurts_ to still be the episode when Piper finds out about Leo.


	41. That 70's Episode(PlusNeverLetPaigeCook)

**A/N:** The adoption secret might be something that will be left to a specific season two episode that I have in mind, but I have not written my version of the _Love Hurts_ episode yet, so that could still change.

* * *

**Chapter Forty One: That 70's Episode (Plus Never Let Paige Cook)**

Paige was downstairs in the kitchen helping Piper to make dinner.

'I have always wanted to learn how to cook properly,' said Paige.

'Really?' said Piper hopefully.

'Nope,' laughed Paige. 'That was a joke. I cook as successfully as I make potions.'

'Well, you are not doing a bad job right now,' said Piper.

'Just wait for that fire alarm to go off,' said Paige.

'You won't burn the food, especially with me here. I am very observant when it comes to food and correct timings,' said Piper.

'I bet you I will still manage to set off that fire alarm,' said Paige.

'Why are you down here if you don't like cooking then?' asked Piper.

'Prue and Phoebe are looking through photo albums up there,' said Paige. 'I can hear Phoebe's thoughts from here, and she is getting stressed about not having many photos of her as a child.'

Piper understood why Paige did not want to be up there. 'And you are annoyed at Phoebe because you don't even have any childhood photos of all four of us, because you never were here.'

Paige nodded.

'Paige, I thought we had spoken about this before,' said Piper. 'When Prue, Phoebe, and I were going through our old toys?'

'You weren't in there when Prue and Phoebe overheard my thoughts,' said Paige.

'Prue told me all about your no longer caring that you had missed out on a childhood with us because although you would never get the chance to relive your childhood, at least you could be with us in the here and now,' said Piper matter-of-factly.

'Yeah, well, that was like a moral of the week thing. It applied back on that day, but it no longer applies,' said Paige. 'I will always regret not growing up with you three whether I get to spend time with you now or not.'

Piper made a face.

'What's wrong, Piper?' asked Paige.

'We keep talking about time,' said Piper. 'I am sure there is something I am forgetting. What is the time now, Paige?'

Paige looked at her watch. 'Almost twelve noon.'

'Oh no!' shouted Piper. 'How could I forget?'

'Forget what?' asked Paige, confused.

'I need some paper. Where can I find some paper?' asked Piper, searching through the kitchen drawers.

'There is some in the drawers in my room,' said Paige. 'What do you need it for?'

'No time to explain,' said Piper, hurrying up the stairs to the attic.

Paige waited in the foyer for Piper to come back down and explain.

The clock began to chime twelve and the doorbell rang.

Paige answered the front door. An elderly man with a moustache was standing with a bouquet of flowers in his arms.

'Hello,' said Paige.

'Flowers for Miss Penny Halliwell,' said the elderly man.

The man went to hand the flowers to Paige. Paige heard hurried footsteps on the stairs behind her. Also the fire alarm started to go off. The elderly man dropped the flowers but then he suddenly froze.

Paige turned around to see Prue, Piper, and Phoebe standing in the foyer.

'Why did you freeze him?' Paige asked over the sound of the fire alarm.

'Er, Piper, I think you burnt our dinner,' Phoebe said over the sound of the fire alarm.

'Actually, that was me,' said Paige over the sound of the fire alarm.

Prue squinted at the fire alarm and the noise stopped just in time to hear the clock finish its twelfth chime.

'So, why did you freeze him?' asked Paige again.

'He drops those flowers every year,' said Piper. 'I was hoping to let him off lightly with a note this year.'

'Let him off lightly about what?' asked Paige.

'That Grams is dead,' said Phoebe.

'Oh, oh yeah, he said the flowers were for Grams,' said Paige.

Prue nodded.

Piper picked up the flowers and put them in a vase.

'Er, guys, there is smoke coming from the kitchen,' said Phoebe.

'Considering the fire alarm went off, I was expecting to see smoke,' said Paige. 'I will go and air out the kitchen. Want me to ring for a take out while I am in there?'

'Pizza, please,' said Phoebe.

'No, order some Chinese please,' suggested Prue.

'No! No take out food!' said Piper. 'I will redo dinner after Grams' not-so-secret secret admirer is gone.'

Paige shrugged and went to sort out the kitchen. She opened the oven, put on oven gloves, and removed the home-made lasagne dish that was now a burnt crisp. Paige then took off the oven gloves and opened up the windows to air out the room.

Suddenly Paige heard her sisters screaming from the foyer. She ran back into the foyer to find a younger version of the man standing near Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, who were on the floor in agony.

'Your blood is boiling. Soon your lungs will sear,' said the man.

Paige could hear his thoughts. He was thinking, 'It is time to get the powers I have waited so long for.'

'Get away from them!' shouted Paige.

The man turned to Paige and pointed his ring at her. Paige suddenly felt the pain that he had just been describing. Paige fell to the floor in agony.

'I do not care about you, girl,' he said to Paige.

While he was distracted, Phoebe had gotten up. She kicked the man in the leg and he fell over.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe grabbed Paige before running up the staircase towards the attic. They ran to the attic and looked for a spell in the Book of Shadows. Anything that could help them.

Prue was flicking through the Book of Shadows hurriedly.

'Why can't we just face him with our powers?' Paige asked.

'Nicholas has immunity to them,' explained Phoebe.

'No he does not. I could hear his thoughts,' said Paige.

'Really? Well, our powers did not work on him,' said Prue.

'Why not? How does he have immunity to your three powers?' asked Paige.

'Apparently mum made a deal with him,' said Piper.

'Why though?' asked Paige.

Phoebe had taken the Book from Prue and had started flicking through some pages.

'I found something! A spell!' said Phoebe.

They could hear Nicholas shouting threats from downstairs.

'Say it, Phoebe,' said Prue.

Phoebe began to recite the spell:

'_The bond which was not to be done,_

_Give us the power to see it undone,_

_And turn back time to whence it was begun_.'

The four sisters looked around. Had it worked? Paige could no longer hear Nicholas anymore. However, Paige also noticed that all of her things that were usually in the attic were missing.

The four of them jumped when they heard an unfamiliar ringing sound.

'Does our phone sound like that?' asked Paige.

Prue shook her head.

'Halliwell residence,' they heard someone say.

'You go,' said Piper to Phoebe.

Phoebe shook her head. 'You go.'

Piper looked at Prue. 'How about Prue go?'

'Or Paige?' Phoebe suggested.

'Or Paige could use her telepathy to try and figure out who is downstairs?' suggested Prue.

Paige went to sit on the sofa, just to notice that it was not there. Paige sighed and sat on the floor instead. She crossed her legs and closed her eyes.

'Okay, I can sense three people are in the manor other than us,' said Paige.

'You can sense people now?' said Phoebe.

Paige shrugged. 'Maybe it is part of my telepathy power.'

'Okay. Can you figure out who any of them are?' asked Prue.

Paige tried to connect to their minds, to hear their thoughts.

'I am going to catch you Piper!' was one of the thoughts that Paige could hear.

Paige opened her eyes and looked up at Prue.

'I think I could hear your thoughts,' said Paige.

'Mine?' said Prue. 'Really?'

'I don't know,' said Paige. 'You were thinking about chasing after Piper.'

Piper took a side step away from Prue. Phoebe giggled.

'I will try and zone in on someone else,' said Paige, closing her eyes again.

'Prue won't know if I hide in the cupboard,' was a thought that Paige heard.

Paige opened her eyes and looked up at Piper.

'Why are you thinking about hiding from Prue in a cupboard?' asked Paige.

'What are you going on about?' asked Piper.

'I don't know,' said Paige. 'One more try. I will try the third person.'

Paige closed her eyes again.

'If you open your eyes up and ask something about me in a second…' laughed Phoebe.

'Phoebe, quiet, I need to concentrate,' said Paige.

'Sorry,' said Phoebe.

'Four women that are warlocks? And one is taking our Prue? This is not good,' was the thought that Paige heard.

Paige opened her eyes. 'I do not recognise the third person, but I am pretty sure that the first two people are you two, Prue and Piper. Whoever the third person is, they are worried about warlocks.'

'What do you mean _us_?' said Prue. 'Piper and I are standing right here.'

Paige suddenly heard another thought again from the one she had thought was Piper: 'Oh no! Prue is gaining on me! I will hide in the attic whether Grams likes me going in there or not!'

Paige suddenly looked alarmed. Footsteps up the attic steps were audible now. The door opened and a little girl ran in, shutting the door behind her, holding it shut.

The four sisters stared at the little girl in shock.

'Piper, that – that's you,' whispered Prue.

Little Piper turned around, still holding the door shut, and suddenly spotted Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. In alarm the little girl flicked her hands at them.

Paige smiled and said to Little Piper, 'Ha, Piper! That did not work, because we are good witches like you, right guys?'

There was no reply from Prue, Piper, or Phoebe. Paige turned around to see that they were frozen.

'What?' said Paige. 'How are they frozen? Piper, how did you freeze three good witches?'

'Who are you?' Little Piper asked Paige.

'Your little sister,' said Paige. 'How –'

Little Piper interrupted her. 'I don't have a little sister and you are too old to be a little sister anyway.'

'I am their little sister,' said Paige, pointing at Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

'No you are not,' said Little Piper. 'You are old.'

'Next time I write you a birthday card, I am going to make sure to point that out about you,' said Paige snidely.

'Who are you?' repeated Little Piper.

'I told you,' said Paige. 'Now unfreeze them, please.'

There was suddenly frantic knocking on the attic door.

'Piper! Let me in!' said a voice. 'You know we are not supposed to be in the attic.'

'Er, Piper is not in here!' said little Piper.

'Piper, how stupid do you think I am?' said the voice.

The door was forced open and a little girl not much older than little Piper walked in, shutting the door behind her.

'No fair, Prue! You used your power to open the door!' said little Piper.

'That's Prue?' said Paige. 'Great. There is probably going to be a little Phoebe too and I get to see the childhood that I never got to be part of.'

'Phoebe? Is that your name?' asked little Prue.

'No. I am Paige,' said Paige. She pointed at Phoebe and said, 'That is Phoebe.'

'Oh,' said little Prue. 'Why are you in the attic? We are never allowed in here. Is it because you people are normally in here?'

'Prue, could you ask Piper to unfreeze them for me?' asked Paige.

'Answer my question first,' said little Prue.

'Wow, so your bossiness is something you have always had,' said Paige.

'Don't be mean,' said little Prue.

'Oh, I was not being mean to you,' said Paige. 'I was being mean to her.' Paige pointed at Prue.

'Why aren't you frozen?' little Prue asked.

'I am a good witch, like you,' said Paige.

'What are they?' little Prue asked, pointing at Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

'They are supposed to be good witches too,' said Paige. 'I don't know why they froze.'

'Piper, hurry up and unfreeze them,' said little Prue. 'Grams won't be on the phone for much longer. We don't want her catching us up here.'

'Grams?' said Paige, suddenly realising that she was the third person in the manor. Then remembering that Grams had been thinking about warlocks while talking on the phone, Paige realised that the person Grams was talking to must know about magic too, so Paige asked, 'Do you know who she is on the phone to?'

'Mum,' said little Prue.

'Mum?' thought Paige. 'She is alive. If I find her, I might find Sam too.'

'Girls!' Grams called from downstairs.

'Quick, Piper, unfreeze them! We need to get out of here!' said little Prue.

Little Piper flicked her hands and ran out of the attic with little Prue.

'Did I really look like that when I was –' Piper began, but stopped when she realised that little Piper had left.

'Where did little Piper go?' said Prue.

'Do you think she froze us?' asked Phoebe.

'She did,' confirmed Paige.

'How?' said Prue. 'We are good witches.'

'How?' said Piper. 'Did we even have powers at that age? I don't remember having powers at that age!'

'I don't know how, but apparently Grams is downstairs and Mum is alive,' said Paige.

'How do you know all this?' asked Piper.

'I had a chat with little Prue and little Piper,' said Paige. 'They were in here for the past five minutes.'

'You did not freeze?' said Piper.

'Don't ask me why you three did and I did not, but nope I did not freeze,' said Paige.

'Did you say there is a little Prue in the manor as well as a little Piper?' asked Prue.

'Yeah. Oh, and that reminds me,' said Paige. 'Piper?'

'Yeah, Paige?' said Piper.

'You are old,' said Paige.

Piper looked confused at the remark.

'Back to my point,' said Prue. 'Have we travelled back in time?'

'I think we have,' said Paige.

'The spell we cast was about turning back time to when the bond was done…' muttered Phoebe. 'Oh my gosh, this must be around the time when Mum makes the deal with Nicholas!'

'Then we have to stop her,' said Prue.

The attic door burst open.

'Warlocks!' shouted Grams. She noticed they were standing near the Book of Shadows.

'We can explain, Grams,' said Prue.

'Warlocks be gone!' shouted Grams.

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige found themselves being magically thrown through the attic window out of the manor. When they landed on the floor softly, they began to run away, down the street.

* * *

Phoebe stopped and picked a newspaper up off a newspaper stand.

'What's up, Phoebe?' said Paige.

'The date. It is March 24th 1975. I am not born yet. Mum is barely pregnant with me,' said Phoebe.

'At least you exist,' said Paige. 'I won't be born for another couple of years.'

'We need to find Mum and tell her not to make that pact with Nicholas,' said Piper.

'How? Grams has probably already told her about there being four warlocks in the area,' said Prue.

'How would we even find her?' asked Paige.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe stared at her.

'Do that sensing thing you did earlier?' suggested Phoebe.

'How? I do not even remember Mum. The last time I saw her was most likely on the day I was born,' said Paige.

'Trust your heart,' said Prue. 'You will know.'

Paige nodded and closed her eyes. With her eyes shut she began to walk in the direction her instinct told her to go in.

'Is Paige walking with her eyes closed?' said Piper worriedly.

'I think she is leading the way to Mum,' said Phoebe.

'Then let's follow her,' said Prue.

'And make sure she does not cross the road into oncoming traffic,' added Piper.

* * *

Paige stopped after a while of walking and opened her eyes. They had reached a diner. Through the diner window, the four sisters recognised one of the waitresses from the many photos they had seen of her.

'Mum,' said Phoebe.

Prue and Piper nodded.

'All four of us cannot go in there,' said Prue. 'Grams will probably have phoned to warn her by now.'

'Don't say it, Phoebe,' said Paige. 'I heard what you are thinking and you cannot not go in just because you have little memory of her. I have even less memory of her than you. The three of you should go in.'

'No, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'You have to meet her.'

'Phoebe, she knows you exist, because she is pregnant with you. It is best I don't go in there. It is probably best that she does not find out that she will be having a fourth daughter, considering future consequences and all.' Paige realised that she sounded a little like Leo – often he had mentioned about the 'future consequences' involved in mixing magic with time travel.

Within five minutes, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were sitting in a booth inside the diner. Paige could not hear their conversation from where she was. She decided to go around the back of the diner and sneak into the kitchen. She found a chef's jacket and put it on. Paige wandered out into the main diner area so as she was close enough to hear what her sisters were talking about, especially now that they were talking to their mum, Patty.

'Prunes, sure,' Patty was saying. 'Yeah, I just got started here, but I will go and check.'

'No!' said Prue.

Patty had noticed Paige looking their way from the counter.

'Hi, could you check to see if the kitchen has prunes,' she said to Paige. 'I was going to, but I need to go back to the table to see what else they want now.'

'Sure,' said Paige, almost forgetting that she had donned a chef's uniform. She did not want to seem out of place by not following up on what Patty had just asked her to do.

Paige wandered back into the kitchen.

'Hey, do you have –' Paige said before she was interrupted.

'Ah good!' said a chef. 'We needed another pair of hands! Go over there and stir that pot of soup while it simmers.'

'Er,' said Paige. 'I am not –'

'Go now! This is a very busy diner, Miss,' said the chef.

Paige went over to the pot and began to stir it.

Paige's thoughts started to wander. She was in the 1970s with her sisters. She was not even born yet. If she had the guts to, she could tell her mother not to abandon her. That way she would change time so as she did grow up with Prue, Piper, and Phoebe!

Paige was dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of a fire alarm. The pot of soup she had been stirring had over-boiled and smoke was erupting from it. The smoke had set off the fire alarm.

Paige sighed. _Every time_ she attempted to cook something…

* * *

**A/N:** Wow. I know I will have more references to Chris in the next few chapters, but as you may have noticed, there was technically one in this one. I mean, surely, Chris must have gotten his 'future consequences' sense from Leo – however terrible their relationship was – considering Piper was never as preachy about time travel as Chris was.

There are currently two other fan fictions of mine that I would like to ask you to take a look at. I wrote a one-shot involving only _Charmed_ episode titles, called _A Charmed Challenge_. Please read and review it. Also, a new chapter of _Moved On_ is up. Please read and review that too! Oh, I really should not forget about advertising _The Lost Charmed One _either – that has had recent updates too. Which makes three other fan fictions, not two. Thank you!


	42. That 70's Episode (PlusTheNameMix-Match)

**A/N:** If that is right, and Chris did get the 'future consequences' line from Paige in the future, then that can still work in this, because Paige could have learnt it from Leo, and then in the future passed it onto Chris. Anyway, back to the episode…

* * *

**Chapter Forty Two: That 70's Episode (Plus The Name Mix-Match)**

Paige vacated the kitchen through the back way with the kitchen staff. She assumed the customers including Prue, Piper, and Phoebe would have left via the front entrance.

'How did you manage to fail at stirring soup?' shouted the head chef. 'What sort of chef are you?'

'Actually, I am not a chef,' said Paige.

'What?' shouted the head chef.

'I never said I was,' said Paige. 'When you forced me to cook, that was your own undoing.'

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe suddenly came running out of the back entrance.

'What were you doing inside the diner?' the head chef shouted at Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. 'Couldn't you hear the fire alarm?'

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe ignored the rants of the head chef and only stopped because they saw Paige.

'Paige, what are you doing out here?' asked Phoebe.

'Why are you wearing a chef's uniform?' asked Prue.

'That's why the fire alarm went off! Wow, you were right about you, cooking, and fire alarms,' said Piper.

'Er guys, not that I am not glad to see you, but is there a reason why you were running?' asked Paige.

'Oh yeah, Nicholas was chasing us,' said Phoebe.

'So he still is chasing you?' said Paige.

'Good point,' said Prue.

'Run!' said Piper.

Paige followed her sisters as they started to run again.

When they were clear of the diner, Paige asked, 'So what did I miss?'

'Cliff notes version: Our powers don't work, so there was no way to prove we were witches to Mum,' said Piper.

'First Nicholas was immune to only your powers and not mine; then you three freeze but I don't; then we find out that the three of you exist in this time, but I am still two years away from existing; and now your powers don't work in this time, but mine do?' said Paige. Then she added sarcastically, 'You three are really making me feel included.'

'Paige, you are the lucky one here,' said Prue.

'I don't see it, Prue,' said Paige bitterly. 'Did you try to talk to her some more even after you found out you had no powers?'

'She left before we could try to convince her some more,' said Phoebe.

'Oh, and then the fire alarm went off,' said Prue with a smile.

'Sorry,' said Paige.

'When we were forced outside by the staff, we bumped into Nicholas,' said Piper. 'Phoebe, er, assaulted him and he came after us, so we ran back into the diner and through the kitchen, through the back door, where we bumped into you.'

'So, why are you in a chef's uniform?' asked Phoebe.

Paige noticed she had not taken the chef's jacket off yet.

'I wanted to hear your conversation so decided to pretend to be diner staff,' said Paige. 'It did not work out like I had imagined though.'

Piper laughed.

'So did Nicholas have his ring?' asked Paige.

Phoebe shook her head. 'I don't think so, which must be a good thing. It must mean we still have time to stop the deal being made.'

'What do we do now then?' asked Paige.

They had turned onto Prescott Street and stopped across the road from the manor.

'Little Prue and little Piper still have their powers,' said Prue.

'Are you suggesting kidnapping, Prue?' said Paige.

'No! You cannot kidnap yourself,' said Prue.

'Try explaining that one to the police,' laughed Paige.

'Maybe only one of us should go in there,' said Piper. 'Too many and we might make too much noise.'

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige agreed.

'Which one of us?' asked Phoebe.

'Hmm… Well, I think I should go,' said Prue.

'I should go,' said Phoebe. 'I know how to sneak in and out of that manor without being caught like the back of my hand.'

'I think Phoebe is right,' said Paige. 'She should go.'

'Paige should go,' said Piper.

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige looked at Piper in shock.

'Why me?' asked Paige.

'Little me can freeze Prue, Phoebe, and I, but not you,' said Piper. 'We cannot take the risk of being caught because little me decides to use her power on us.'

Reluctantly Prue and Phoebe agreed.

'Are you okay with going, Paige?' asked Piper.

Paige nodded.

'You can keep in contact with us the whole time,' said Prue. 'Just open up a telepathic network between the four of us like you did once with Piper and me.'

Paige closed her eyes and concentrated. She opened her eyes.

'Testing,' thought Paige.

'One,' thought Prue.

'Two,' thought Piper.

'Three,' thought Phoebe.

Paige smiled.

'I will see you on the outside,' thought Paige.

Paige made her way toward Halliwell manor while Prue, Piper, and Phoebe remained across the road.

'Paige, you are best off going through the back door,' thought Phoebe.

'Do you think it will be unlocked?' thought Paige.

'When I was a teenager, the spare key used to be hidden under the rock by the back door,' thought Phoebe.

Paige had reached the garden and looked under the rock. There was no spare key.

'It is not there, Pheebs,' thought Paige.

'That is because this is thirteen years before Phoebe became a teenager,' thought Prue. 'Before Phoebe was a teenager, I was one. Grams moved the key under the rock when she found out that I knew it was hidden under the gnome.'

Paige found the gnome and picked it up. Underneath was a key. Paige used it to unlock the back door. She entered the conservatory.

'I'm in,' thought Paige.

She could sense that Grams and Patty were upstairs, so Paige knew it was safe to continue to sneak around downstairs.

Paige crept into the hallway and towards the living room where she could hear little Prue and little Piper's voices.

'That's my doll!' said little Prue to little Piper.

'You gave it to me!' said little Piper.

'No, I didn't. You stole it,' said little Prue.

As Paige entered the living room, she saw the dolly fly out of little Piper's hands into little Prue's hands.

Little Prue and little Piper noticed Paige.

'You came back,' said little Prue.

'I did,' said Paige quietly. 'I need your help.'

'Just mine?' asked little Prue.

'Piper's too,' said Paige.

'Grams said you are bad people,' said little Piper.

'My sisters and I are not bad people,' said Paige. 'We are good. Like you two.'

'We are not supposed to go places with strangers,' said little Prue.

'I promise you that you can trust me,' said Paige.

'Prove it,' said little Piper.

'Er…' said Paige.

A little boy suddenly ran into the living room, shouting 'Freeze!'

'Okay, Andy!' said little Piper and she froze him.

'I am telling Mum!' said little Prue. 'You are not supposed to freeze people!'

'He said to,' said little Piper innocently.

'That's Andy?' laughed Paige, looking at the frozen little boy.

'Yep,' said little Prue.

'Do you like him?' Paige asked little Prue.

'Ew, he is a boy,' said little Prue.

'Boys are icky,' said little Piper.

'At least you have a reason for not wanting to be with Andy,' said Paige. 'Something that a certain Prue and Andy that I know don't seem to be able to come up with a reason for.'

'You know a Prue and Andy too?' said little Prue.

'Er, yes. Yes I do,' said Paige. 'The Prue and Andy I know are destined to be together.'

'Do you know a Piper too?' asked little Piper.

'Actually, I do,' smiled Paige.

'Is she destined to be with anyone too?' asked little Piper.

Paige thought of Leo and Piper.

'Paige, why are you thinking about me and Leo now?' thought Piper.

'Huh?' thought Paige.

'We just heard you think 'Piper and Leo are destined to be together' quite loudly,' thought Phoebe.

'I thought that out loud?' thought Paige. Oops, they were not supposed to have heard that thought. She thought she had control over what thoughts she sent out telepathically.

'Is she?' repeated little Piper.

Paige looked down at little Piper and smiled, 'Yes.'

Little Piper smiled.

'Will you two come with me now?' asked Paige.

Little Prue and little Piper exchanged looks. Then little Prue nodded and said, 'Only because we think we can trust you.'

Little Andy suddenly unfroze.

'Who are you?' little Andy asked Paige.

Ignoring his question, Paige said to little Andy, 'When you get out of the phase of thinking girls are icky, make sure to ask Prue out, okay? You are destined to be together.'

'Ew,' said little Andy.

'Piper, can you freeze him again?' asked Paige.

Little Piper refroze little Andy.

'Thanks,' said Paige. 'Now, quickly, let's go!'

Paige ushered little Prue and little Piper out the front door. Paige shut the front door quietly and then took little Prue and little Piper across the street with her.

'It's them again!' said little Piper when she saw Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

Little Prue giggled. 'You three were frozen last time I saw you.'

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige hurried little Prue and little Piper down the street. Rather than deciding to go somewhere private to let little Prue and little Piper practice their powers, they decided to go to an extremely public and busy park, because apparently the risk of magic being exposed does not exist in the seventies.

* * *

Prue and Piper were helping their little versions to practice their powers with a ball in the middle of the park. Phoebe and Paige were watching.

Paige stood up and began to walk away. Phoebe followed her.

'Where are you going, Paige?' asked Phoebe.

'I need some fresh air,' said Paige.

'We are outdoors,' said Phoebe. 'There is fresh air everywhere.'

Paige sighed. 'Then I need a walk. Is that better?'

'No, because I can tell something is up,' said Phoebe. 'What's wrong?'

'Well, we are in the seventies. You are going to be born into this world in a few months time, and I know that in a year Mum will probably figure out she is pregnant with me,' said Paige.

'You are not telling me what is wrong,' said Phoebe. 'All you did was state facts.'

'Well, I was thinking,' said Paige. 'What if – when we prove to Mum who we are and gain her trust – we tell her that she will be having a child with Sam Wilder in two years time and that she should not give her up!'

'Paige, we cannot do that,' said Phoebe.

'Why not, Phoebe? You three regret as much as I do that we never grew up together,' said Paige. 'We can change that!'

'Paige, that would change time,' said Phoebe.

'Isn't that what we are doing anyway?' asked Paige. 'We are here to stop Mum from making that deal with Nicholas, so that will change time.'

'That is different,' said Phoebe.

'You took that one straight out of the Halliwell-English dictionary,' said Paige.

'Huh?' said Phoebe.

'That is a reference to something I kept going on about while Clay was last in town,' said Paige. 'That is not the point though. How is my suggestion to change time any different to yours? Both are making changes for good reasons.'

'Yes, but we came back to save our powers,' said Phoebe.

'Yes, but we could also come back to save our childhood,' said Paige.

'Paige, I cannot let you do this,' said Phoebe seriously.

'Are you going to stop me then?' asked Paige.

Phoebe sighed. 'Paige.'

Paige started to run. She would follow her senses again in order to find Patty.

'Paige!' said Phoebe. Phoebe was running after Paige.

'Go away, Phoebe!' said Paige as she continued to run in the direction her instinct told her to go in.

'No, Paige. I am coming with you so as I can stop you. Don't you think I would change things if I could? I never got to know Mum like Prue and Piper did. I hardly remember her. If I could, I would tell her how she dies so as she can avoid it, but I won't. And do you know why?' shouted Phoebe.

Paige stopped. Phoebe caught up with her. Paige turned to Phoebe.

'Phoebe, I don't care why you won't tell her,' said Paige. 'Thank you for adding that to my list of what to tell her when I find and speak to her.'

Paige began to run again, following her senses.

'Paige!' shouted Phoebe as Phoebe began to chase Paige again.

Paige had reached an apartment block. She entered the building and ran up the stairs until her instincts told her to exit the staircase onto a floor. Phoebe was still right behind her.

'Paige! Don't do this!' said Phoebe.

Paige found the door that she knew Patty would be behind. The door was locked.

Phoebe smiled. 'There is nothing you can do about a locked door.'

Paige knocked on the door. There was no reply.

'Come on, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'Let's just go back to the park. Prue and Piper are probably wondering where we have got to.'

'She is in there though,' said Paige. 'I can sense her!'

'Paige, let's go,' said Phoebe.

Phoebe and Paige suddenly heard a scream from behind the door. Phoebe kicked the door down and ran into the apartment. Paige followed her in.

Patty had her hands cuffed behind her and Nicholas had his ring pointed at her. The two of them had not noticed Phoebe and Paige's entrance.

'I saw four warlocks. Women,' Patty was saying to Nicholas.

'I saw three of them at the diner,' said Nicholas. 'Rivals, perhaps, but I got to you first.'

'I beg you, don't hurt my children,' said Patty.

'There is another option,' said Nicholas, holding up his ring.

'What's the other option?' asked Patty.

'Grant me immunity to their powers,' said Nicholas.

Patty sighed. 'Okay.'

'No, Mum, don't!' shouted Paige.

Patty looked up and saw them. Nicholas turned around.

'Mum?' said Nicholas. 'They are not warlocks. They are your children travelling back from the future!'

'Mum, don't make this deal with Nicholas,' said Phoebe.

'What choice do I have?' asked Patty.

'How can you talk as if I am not here?' asked Nicholas, turning his ring on Phoebe and Paige.

Phoebe and Paige both fell to the ground in searing pain.

Like earlier that day, Phoebe kicked Nicholas in the leg and he fell to the ground.

Paige reached for Patty and pulled her out of the apartment. Paige and Patty began to run down the corridor. However, Paige noticed that Phoebe was not with them.

After thirty seconds, Phoebe came running out of the apartment.

'I have it!' Phoebe shouted.

'Have what?' asked Paige.

'The ring!' smiled Phoebe, holding it out in her hand for Paige to see.

Phoebe, Paige, and Patty began to run again. They did not stop running until they were a few blocks away from the apartment block.

'Are you okay running with your… er, upset stomach?' said Phoebe to Patty.

'Nicholas told me that I am pregnant,' said Patty. 'You don't need to hide that from me anymore.'

Phoebe smiled.

'So which of you two is the youngest?' she asked Phoebe and Paige.

Paige raised her hand slowly.

'So this is you that I am pregnant with?' asked Patty.

Phoebe and Paige exchanged looks.

'Paige, don't tell her about you,' thought Phoebe.

Paige sighed and said, 'We had better get moving again. We need to find the other two.'

'Can you sense them?' asked Phoebe.

Paige nodded. 'Yes, but they are not in the direction of the park anymore.'

Paige began to run in the direction her instincts told her to go in.

'You know what, Paige, you seem like a sniffer dog today,' laughed Phoebe.

'Her name is Paige?' said Patty, hearing this. 'I name my third daughter Paige?'

'Happy now, Pheebs?' thought Paige. 'Now you cannot stop me from saying something about the truth to Mum, unless you want your name to change to Paige.'

'Paige, leave it for now,' thought Phoebe. 'At least wait until we have spoken to Prue and Piper.'

Paige stopped when she reached the jail. Phoebe caught up with Paige.

'They are in the jail?' asked Phoebe.

'I think so,' said Paige.

'Why are they in jail?' asked Phoebe.

'I would guess either for kidnapping or magic exposure,' said Paige.

'Magic exposure?' said Phoebe.

'Well, they were letting little Prue and little Piper use magic in the middle of a busy park,' said Paige.

'Good point,' said Phoebe.

Patty caught up with them.

'Are you okay, Mum?' asked Phoebe. 'If it was not important, we would not have made you do all this running in your current state.'

'It is fine,' said Patty. 'I am wondering whether I should have just called Sam to orb me over here instead.'

Paige's jaw dropped. Patty had just used 'Sam' and 'orb' in the same sentence. Was Sam a –

'Paige, come on! We need to bail them out if they are locked up!' said Phoebe.

Paige nodded.

The three of them began to walk into the jail.

'So, are you Prue or Piper?' Paige heard Patty ask Phoebe.

The three of them had reached the desk, so Phoebe used this as an excuse not to answer.

'Hi,' said Phoebe to one of the cops behind the desk. 'Do you have two women in custody at all? Both of them have similar features to the three of us and are in their mid to late twenties.'

'We do have two women in custody that fit your description, ma'am,' said the officer.

'Can we bail them out?' asked Phoebe.

'They are being charged for kidnapping, ma'am, so their offense cannot be sorted by bail,' said the officer.

Patty stepped forward and said, 'It is my children that they were found with. I am not pressing charges.'

'Oh,' said the cop. 'Well, if you are dropping the charges, then I can sort out a bail fee instead.'

The cop told them how much it would cost. Phoebe and Paige exchanged looks. Neither of them had enough money to pay it.

'I will pay,' said Patty.

A few minutes later the three of them were standing in front of the jail cell.

'Where did you two get to?' Piper asked Phoebe and Paige when she saw them. Then she was gobsmacked to see Patty standing there too.

'She knows,' said Phoebe.

'Okay, so let me get this straight,' said Patty. 'I am pregnant with Paige at the moment.' She pointed to Paige. 'This must be Piper.' She pointed at Phoebe. 'So which one of you two is Prue? And who does that make the other one?'

Prue and Piper looked confused.

'Go along with it,' Paige thought to them.

Prue and Piper sighed.

'I am Prue,' said Piper.

'So my three daughters have travelled back in time. I must know why,' said Patty. Then she added, looking at Prue, 'First I would like to know who you are. You are so kind as to go back in time with my daughters.'

Prue smiled. 'I am Prue's daughter. I travelled back in time to warn my mum about something and I decided to hop along for their own journey back in time. Apparently time travelling Halliwells are not a rare thing.'

Patty smiled. 'So you are my granddaughter? What is your name?'

Prue shrugged. She may as well use the only name that was not yet taken in their sister mix up. 'Phoebe.'

Phoebe stifled a laugh. Prue glared at Phoebe.

* * *

**A/N:** Awkward. With Prue pretending to do a Chris even though that won't happen for another five years, and Prue never even meets Chris. Oh well.


	43. That 70's Episode(AndFutureConsequences)

**A/N:** Wow, considering how much I hate season six and how much I used to dislike Chris' character (focus on the 'used to'), I am actually dedicating a title to his most common favourite two words: 'Future Consequences'.

* * *

**Chapter Forty Three: That 70's Episode (And Future Consequences)**

Ten minutes later, the five of them were making their way out of the jail.

'I think I must have left my car at the apartment block,' said Patty in annoyance.

Piper laughed. 'We seem to end up doing that a lot back in our own time.'

The five women made their way back by foot to the manor. When they reached the street, they stopped outside.

'Do the four of you mind waiting out here while I go and persuade my mother that you are not evil?' Patty asked.

'Go ahead,' said Prue. 'We wanted to have a private chat between the four of us anyway.'

Patty smiled and disappeared from view as she entered the manor.

'Of all the people that you pretend to be, you pretend to be your own daughter! How vain, Prue!' laughed Phoebe.

'Technically, as Mum believes that Piper is me, I am actually pretending to be Piper's daughter,' said Prue.

'This is all a mess!' moaned Piper. 'When we get back to our own time, Phoebe will probably be called Paige!'

'No offense, Paige, but I don't want to be called Paige,' said Phoebe. 'I want to be Phoebe.'

'No offense taken,' said Paige.

'So where did the two of you disappear to at the park?' asked Prue.

Phoebe and Paige exchanged looks.

'I went after Paige,' said Phoebe.

Paige looked down at the ground guiltily.

'Why? Where were you going, Paige?' asked Piper.

'To find Mum,' said Paige. 'Phoebe and I managed to stop her from making the deal with Nicholas.'

'The way Phoebe said that she 'went after' you kind of suggests that that was not your intention,' said Prue.

'I… Well, I… I wanted to tell Mum that she was going to have a fourth daughter… And that she should not abandon her…' said Paige, still not looking up at her sisters.

'Paige!' shouted both Prue and Piper.

'Relax, I did not tell her… but maybe I should,' said Paige.

'Paige, look at me,' said Prue.

Paige slowly looked up at Prue.

'You cannot tell Mum,' said Prue. 'It could change too much. For all we know, we could go back to our time and no longer be the Charmed Ones.'

Paige sighed.

'What I want to know is why Mum thinks you are the one she is currently pregnant with,' said Piper.

'She asked who was the youngest out of Paige and me,' said Phoebe. 'When we said it was Paige, she assumed Paige was who she was pregnant with. We had to build up a lie as to who I was then. And then the number of us to the number of children she has knowledge of did not fit.'

'So what are we going to do?' said Piper. 'We have to tell her that Phoebe is the one she is pregnant with, unless we want the name change.'

'How can we do that without giving away that Paige is her fourth daughter – that by the way, she has with another man that we don't even know if she has met yet!' said Phoebe.

Paige suddenly remembered hearing Patty mention Sam's name. Was Sam her… white lighter? Would that make Paige –

'Paige, any ideas would be appreciated,' said Phoebe.

'Huh? Oh, er, well, I will, er –' Paige was interrupted when Patty called them to come on into the manor.

The four sisters found themselves sitting on the sofa in the living room with Grams interrogating them. When Grams finally trusted them enough to realise that they were not evil, she asked:

'So which three of you are my granddaughters?' asked Grams.

Piper and Phoebe raised their hands. Prue and Paige did not.

'Paige, why aren't you raising your hand? Mum thinks you are the third one,' thought Prue.

'Just raise your hand, Prue,' thought Paige. 'I know what to do.'

Prue raised her hand.

Patty looked at them in confusion.

'I can explain,' said Paige before their mum had a chance to state the change. 'That is Prue. This is Piper, and she is the daughter you are currently pregnant with, Phoebe.' Paige pointed at each of her sisters after saying their name respectively.

'So who does that make you?' asked Grams.

'My name is Paige, and I am Prue's daughter from the future,' lied Paige.

'Then why did Phoeb – I mean Prue say that she was Prue's – well actually Piper's daughter from the future?' asked Patty.

'She was covering for me,' lied Paige. 'I was not too sure how much I could tell you without future consequences, so I decided to pretend I was one of them. When Prue covered for me though, I knew I had to fess up or there would be even more future consequences if my Aunt Pheebs ended up being called Paige.'

Patty did not reply, she only nodded. Grams was looking at the four girls, unconvinced by Paige's explanation.

'So you came back to stop Patty from making a deal with Nicholas?' asked Grams.

'Yes, you see in our time, Nicholas was about to kill us and claim our powers,' said Prue.

'So why is Paige here again?' asked Grams.

'I decided to come back and help them with this because I was in their time anyway,' lied Paige.

'Hmm…' said Grams, not sounding convinced. 'Could you not use your powers to attack Nicholas? I presume he had no immunity to your powers because Nicholas was only after Patty's three daughters.'

Paige suddenly realised that that was why she had been able to use her telepathy on Nicholas. When Patty made the pact, she had made the pact to grant Nicholas immunity to the powers of the three Halliwell daughters. Patty did not know back then that she would have a fourth child.

'My powers are only passive, so I could not use them to defend us,' said Paige.

'What are your powers?' asked Patty.

'Telepathy,' said Paige.

'Telepathy?' said Grams. 'That is not a family power.'

'I did not have a power, but in my time, the Elders granted me a power,' said Paige.

Grams rolled her eyes on hearing the Elders mentioned.

'That reminds me,' interjected Prue. 'Paige's power still works in this time, but Piper, Phoebe's, and mine don't. Do you know why, Grams or Mum?'

Grams and Patty exchanged looks.

'Well, little Prue and little Piper have their powers,' said Grams.

'And Phoebe does too, she gave me a premonition,' said Patty.

'So maybe both sets of you cannot have your powers at once,' said Grams. 'Paige is not even born in this time so she is fine with having her powers too. As her powers were also granted by the Elders, the fact that she does not exist in this time probably does not affect her powers either.'

'Should we get back to the reason we are here?' asked Piper. 'Phoebe and Paige stopped Mum from making the deal with Nicholas. Shouldn't the spell have sent us back to our own time by now?'

'Did we stop the pact from being made though? Or did we just delay it?' asked Phoebe. 'All I did was kick him, he is probably on his way here right now. Nicholas probably wants his ring back.'

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige looked over at Patty.

'Whatever you do, when he gets here, don't make the deal with him,' said Prue. 'We will help you to vanquish him.'

'How? You have no powers,' said Grams.

'I think it is more important for us to get your powers bound,' said Patty to Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. 'That way, Nicholas cannot hurt you until you finally get your powers.'

'That is exactly what you and Grams did do,' said Piper.

'And when did you get your powers back?' asked Grams.

'Almost a year ago,' said Piper.

Grams went pale in realisation of what that could have meant.

Before anything more could be said there was thumping on the front door and then it smashed open.

'Attic anyone?' said Paige.

Without needing to respond, everyone made their way upstairs. Grams used her power to throw Nicholas back out of the front door to bide them some time.

'Where are little Prue and little Piper?' asked Prue.

'They are in their rooms,' said Grams. 'We will bring them up to the attic with us.'

* * *

Within five minutes, Grams, Patty, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, little Prue, and little Piper were all in the attic.

'What are we going to do?' asked Prue.

'I am going to send you back to your time,' said Grams. 'When you get there, everything will be exactly the same, except Nicholas will no longer have immunity to your powers.'

'How about now? Nicholas is attacking this house now!' said Piper.

'Your mum and I can deal with him,' said Grams.

'The reason we had to come back in time to now was because Mum could not stop him without making a deal the first time around,' said Phoebe. 'How is that different now?'

'Phoebe!' said Prue and Piper as Phoebe had been a little disrespectful in moaning at Patty and Grams.

'What? I agree with Pheebs – I mean Aunt Pheebs,' said Paige. 'After we go back to our own time, how do you expect to stop Nicholas from killing you right now?'

'Well, apparently we survive this, or Phoebe would not be standing here now, so I think we can handle Nicholas,' said Grams.

'That is really not the point,' said Paige.

Patty had been looking through the Book of Shadows and suddenly said, 'I think I have found a spell!'

Patty and Grams recited it. It did not work.

'Maybe it requires the Power of Three?' suggested Piper.

'Phoebe is not born yet,' said Prue. 'The Power of Three does not exist.'

'I still cannot believe that my daughters are the Charmed Ones,' said Patty.

They suddenly heard Nicholas yelling from downstairs.

'Phoebe – little Phoebe – she has her powers or I would not have shared her premonition,' said Patty. 'The Power of Three may still be possible to form.'

Patty gathered little Prue and little Piper and told them to repeat the spell after her. Patty held hands with little Prue and little Piper.

'Hang on, just one second,' said Phoebe, picking up an old camera that was lying around in the attic. 'Can I get a photo of the three of you together?'

Patty smiled. 'You don't need my permission, honey.'

'Yes, but I want Paige to join the photo,' said Phoebe.

'Huh?' said Paige.

'Paige, stand with Mum, little Prue, and little Piper,' said Phoebe.

'Okay…' said Paige, walking over to Patty, little Prue, and little Piper. Paige stood next to little Piper, holding her hand.

Phoebe took a photo and put the camera down.

They heard Nicholas start ascending the attic steps.

'Paige, back with your mother and aunts! This spell needs doing now,' said Grams hurriedly.

Paige was a little flustered at hearing Prue referred to as her mother, and Piper and Phoebe as her aunts, but that was what her lie had led to. Paige rejoined her sisters.

'Okay, girls,' said Patty. 'Repeat after me.'

'_A time for everything, and everything its place,_

_Return what has been moved, through time and space_.'

From Paige's point of view there were sparkling lights and although they still stood in the attic, Grams, Patty, little Prue, and little Piper had vanished. However, they could still hear Nicholas.

'It worked, we are back,' said Prue.

Phoebe started flicking through the Book of Shadows. Nicholas burst into the attic. Prue used her telekinesis to throw him out of the attic and it worked.

'No more immunity to our powers,' smiled Piper.

'I found it! The Nicholas Must Die spell!' said Phoebe.

'Not very subtle, Grams,' laughed Paige.

'Grams even included a little potion pack for us,' said Phoebe, throwing the pouch to Piper.

Piper put it into a mortar and pestle and with Phoebe's instructions made the potion up. A puff of smoke erupted.

'_Cleanse this evil from our midst,_

_Scatter its cells throughout time, let this Nick no more exist._'

They heard Nicholas screaming as he finally entered the attic again. He disintegrated into dust.

* * *

A few hours later, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were looking through photo albums in the conservatory, while Paige was hiding away in the kitchen.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe entered the kitchen.

'You aren't trying to cook dinner, are you?' joked Piper.

Paige smiled, but did not say anything.

'Paige, look what we have got,' said Phoebe, placing a photo in front of her.

Paige did not look down at it.

'Paige, look at it,' said Phoebe. 'It is the closest photo to a childhood photo with the four of us in.'

Paige was confused by the statement so looked down at the photo. Sure enough it was the photo that Phoebe had taken. Paige, Patty, little Prue, and little Piper stood side by side, and technically Phoebe was in it too, because Patty was pregnant with her.

Paige smiled. 'Thanks Pheebs.'

'Next time we will travel back in time to when you were little and get a photo of little you with big me, Prue, and Piper,' joked Phoebe.

That night Paige could not sleep.

She had not told Prue, Piper, or Phoebe about the fact that she now suspected that Sam Wilder, her father, could be a white lighter. There was no proof that he was. She could have misheard Patty. Paige had also not gotten the chance to ask Patty the name of her white lighter in order to confirm or disprove what Paige thought she might have heard. Also, if Patty's white lighter was called Sam, it was highly possible that Paige's father was a different Sam that Patty happened to know.

However, there was one way of proving whether or not Paige's father, Sam, had been a white lighter. If he had been a white lighter, Paige would most likely be part white lighter.

Paige closed her eyes, screwed up her face, and concentrated. 'Orb!' she thought.

Nothing happened.

* * *

**A/N:** A low note to end on, but just to clarify, Paige does not think Sam is a white lighter, and therefore has no idea she is one. Why can Paige not orb? Think back to season four – specifically to _Hell Hath No Fury_ – where Cole states that orbing is a fear response which is why Paige has to rely on getting scared in the first part of season four until she gets control over it. Why don't I want Paige to know that Sam is definitely a white lighter yet? The reason is I don't want her to know she is part white lighter, because I have the perfect episode for her _and_ the sisters to find out in (The episode I refer to is within season one, so you won't have to wait too long for that to happen).


	44. WBWGG (And Ignoring WBWGG)

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews last chapter. I want to start by saying how boring I find the canon _When Bad Warlocks Go Good_ episode which is why I am leaving that plotline up to the original Charmed Ones while Paige gets an episode with Leo and Daisy in a nice little prequel to _Love Hurts_.

* * *

**Chapter Forty Four: When Bad Warlocks Go Good (And Ignoring WBWGG)**

Paige wandered into the kitchen. Prue and Phoebe were sitting at the table. Piper was on the phone.

'Tomorrow? At the church? Do you not have anyone else who can help me?' Piper was saying into the phone. 'Martin! No, Martin, you can't – Martin, stop interrupt – Okay. I will pick up the food and the van tomorrow morning.'

Piper slammed the phone onto the kitchen table as she hung up.

'You know, sometimes I just get so mad that I wish I had the power to blow stuff up,' mumbled Piper. 'Martin always knows how to throw more work in my direction.'

'Are we talking about blowing up the phone or Martin?' laughed Phoebe.

Paige sat down at the kitchen table and said, 'What is Martin making you do now, Piper?'

Piper also sat down at the kitchen table and sighed. 'He wants me take some food from Quake to the local church. I need the three of you to help me.'

Phoebe sighed. 'Really, Piper?'

'Piper, tomorrow is my day off. I was hoping to spend it relaxing,' said Prue.

Phoebe giggled. 'Prue and relax in the same sentence? I must be dreaming because that is never going to happen.'

Prue ignored Phoebe's teasing.

'Please,' said Piper.

'Fine, but you owe me,' said Phoebe.

'Okay, Piper, I will help too,' said Prue.

Piper turned to Paige for some sort of response.

'Piper, I am sorry, I can't,' said Paige. 'You know I am leaving tomorrow. I will be helping my white lighter friend with one of their charges for the next few days. I leave first thing tomorrow morning.'

Piper smiled. 'Sorry, I forgot about that. Don't worry; two sisters are enough to help me.'

'Paige, can I come with you?' said Phoebe. 'It sounds so much more interesting than what Piper wants me to do.'

Prue, Piper, and Paige laughed.

'Sorry, Pheebs, but it's my job to help my white lighter friend, not yours. I wanted to start helping my white lighter friend with their charges, as I want to help more magical people,' said Paige.

'Paige, you know as well as we do, that you do not hang around the manor to be our 'guide' anymore,' laughed Prue.

'Which is exactly why I want to try and get back into that role by helping my white lighter friend,' said Paige. 'I will be back in two or three days. I promise.'

* * *

A few hours later, Paige was in the attic, packing her clothes and other necessities into a suitcase. She had spoken to Leo recently and after she had pestered him enough, he had agreed that she could help him look after his charge Daisy for a couple of days. All Paige was waiting for now was for Leo to turn up and orb her to the location where Daisy lived.

There was a knock on the door.

'Come in,' said Paige.

Phoebe walked in.

'Hey Pheebs. What's up?' said Paige.

'This white lighter friend that you are helping out… Is it Leo?' asked Phoebe.

Paige nodded.

'Okay,' said Phoebe. 'Do you know where you will be going?'

Paige shook her head.

'Prue and Piper asked me to ask you to make sure to keep in contact over the next few days,' said Phoebe.

'Pheebs, you won't be susceptible to demon attacks with me gone,' said Paige. 'You still have the Power of Three.'

'That is not why we want to keep in contact with you, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'This will be the first time that you would have gone away since we found out that… that you are our sister.'

'Oh,' smiled Paige. 'Don't worry. Whatever foolish demon decides to attack while I am away will keep you occupied from missing me.'

'Don't count on that,' said Phoebe.

Paige smiled.

'I know it is going to be only two or three days, but it is going to feel weird being the youngest sister in the manor again,' said Phoebe.

Paige could feel herself welling up with tears.

'Phoebe, you are acting as if I am going away for ages,' said Paige.

'I know. Crazy, isn't it?' said Phoebe. Paige could tell that Phoebe was close to tears too.

'Night, Pheebs,' said Paige.

'Night, Paige,' said Phoebe.

Phoebe left and then Paige soon went to sleep.

* * *

Paige woke up when she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Leo.

'Hi there, sleepy head,' said Leo. 'Ready to go?'

Paige yawned and sat up. She was fully dressed and her suitcase was on the floor by the attic sofa. Paige picked up the suitcase and grabbed Leo's arm. Leo orbed out with Paige.

As the ground re-materialised around Paige's feet, she realised she was standing in the part living room-part kitchen of a small apartment.

'Where are we?' asked Paige.

'In Los Angeles,' said Leo.

Paige laughed. 'A fitting named destination for an angel like yourself.'

Paige sat on her suitcase.

'So you have already told me that a dark lighter is infatuated with Daisy and that she is a future white lighter,' said Paige. 'What I need to know is your plan of action so as I know what I should be doing over these next couple of days.'

Leo nodded. 'Basically, my last resort will be to use my abilities to cloak Daisy and relocate her to San Francisco so as she will be closer to the Charmed Ones,' said Leo. 'However, the tactic I want to try before that is trying to get Alec – the dark lighter – off Daisy's trail. I want you to keep your eye on Daisy while I go after Alec.'

'Alec could kill you,' said Paige warningly.

'Paige, dark lighters are everyday threats. I am a white lighter, so there will _always_ be the threat of dark lighters trying to kill me,' said Leo reassuringly.

Paige sighed.

'Paige, I want you to get to know and make friends with Daisy over the next couple of days,' said Leo. 'That way if I have to resort to relocating her to San Francisco and having the Charmed Ones meet her, you will be there to introduce her to the Halliwells, as well as be a face she recognises.'

Paige nodded.

'Okay,' said Paige. 'So where is Daisy?'

Leo pointed to a closed door. 'She is through there. This is her apartment we are in. Her bedroom is through there. We will wait for her to wake up and come out here.'

Paige was surprised at Leo. 'So you mean you orbed us right into her apartment? You don't even knock anymore? Where is your respect for privacy?'

Leo smiled. 'Don't worry. She was expecting us.'

'Still, I would rather you had knocked,' said Paige. 'So what can I and can't I tell her? Is she allowed to know who you are to me? Is she allowed to know that I am a witch?'

'Yes and yes,' said Leo.

Paige smiled at the thought of not having to keep secrets for once.

'Well, that is a load off my mind,' said Paige.

Then Paige suddenly remembered there was something else that had been bothering her for the last week or so. Even though she was pretty sure she had misheard Patty about the possibility that Sam was a white lighter, Paige wanted to find out from Leo without relating the question back to the Halliwells.

'Can I ask you something?' Paige said.

Leo nodded. 'You can ask me anything.'

'Can white lighters have children with witches?' asked Paige.

Leo looked at Paige with an odd expression.

'Paige, white lighters are forbidden from such a pairing,' said Leo. 'The Elders would never allow it.'

'Yes, but if a white lighter was with a witch… Would it be possible for them to have a child?' asked Paige.

Leo went red in the face. Paige could read his mind, and she could tell that his thoughts had briefly went back to when he had had to have the 'how babies are made' talk with Paige when she was little.

'Well,' said Leo. 'Theoretically, I would not have thought so, because the white lighter is technically dead. I doubt it would be possible for them to have children, and I have never known a white lighter and witch to ever be together for long enough to test that theory out.'

Paige nodded.

'Why are you asking this, Paige?' asked Leo. 'I told you I am staying away from Halliwell manor because I know I can never get back together with Piper. It is easier to be apart than face the love that I can never have.'

'It is not about you and Piper,' said Paige. 'Even though I am pretty sure she misses you. I think Phoebe is trying to make Piper date other people, but Prue and I can tell that Piper is still love struck over you.'

Leo sighed. 'I wish it was not forbidden…'

The door opened. Leo and Paige looked up. A blonde haired woman, Daisy, walked into the living room.

'Morning, Leo,' said Daisy.

'Morning,' said Leo. 'Daisy, this is Paige.'

Paige stood up and shook hands with Daisy.

'Nice to meet you, Daisy,' said Paige.

'Likewise,' said Daisy.

'Okay, Paige and Daisy, the two of you will not see me for the next couple of days. I am going to try and get Alec off your scent so as he follows me cross-country,' said Leo. 'If either of you need me just call my name.'

Leo orbed out.

'Take a seat on the sofa, Paige,' said Daisy, wandering over to the kitchen counter. 'Would you like a coffee?'

'Yes please,' said Paige. 'Three sugars.'

Daisy smiled. 'Someone has a sweet tooth.'

'Yeah, Leo used to moan at me about that all the time,' said Paige.

Daisy made some coffee, one for herself and one for Paige, and then sat down on an armchair.

Paige took a sip of her coffee and said, 'So what do you do for fun in Los Angeles?'

Daisy sighed. 'I cannot even think back to those times before I met Alec...'

Paige put her coffee down on the coffee table and looked at Daisy seriously.

'How did you first meet Alec?' Paige asked.

Daisy sighed. 'I guess you could say we met in the same sort of way that any regular couple meets. I bumped into him in the street one day, dropping my shopping everywhere. He helped me pick it all up and then offered to buy me some coffee.'

Paige smiled. 'That sounds cliché but sweet. Did you like him?'

Daisy sighed. 'Yes, I think I even loved him… We had so much in common. Alec was so sweet and kind. He comforted me when I was down. He was always there for me when I needed him. I should have known it was too good to be true…'

'What did he do?' asked Paige.

Daisy looked surprised by Paige's question.

'Paige, you know he is evil,' said Daisy.

'Yes, well, actually all Leo told me was that he was a dark lighter,' said Paige.

'And Leo told me that dark lighters are evil,' said Daisy.

'Yes, I know that dark lighters are supposed to be evil, but what did Alec do that stopped you from loving him?' asked Paige.

'Alec and I were at a restaurant having a meal. A friend of Alec's – who I did not know – approached the table and asked to talk to Alec in private. Alec left me alone at the table. That is when Leo walked over to the table and sat in Alec's empty seat. Leo warned me to leave the restaurant and never contact Alec again. Of course I was in love with Alec so a complete stranger like Leo telling me to abandon my boyfriend seemed so ridiculous so I left the table to go and find Alec. Leo followed me as I went to the alley way behind the building where I expected Alec to be talking to his friend. Leo tried to stop me, but I would not listen. That is when I saw Alec and his friend attacking a man by the dumpster. That is when… when… I don't know if I can talk about it.'

Daisy burst into tears. Paige passed Daisy the box of tissues that were on the coffee table. Daisy took one hesitantly.

'You don't have to continue if you don't want to,' said Paige.

'You need to know what happened,' said Daisy. 'I just do not know if I can talk about it.'

'You don't have to,' said Paige. 'You can show me instead.'

Daisy looked up, confused at what Paige had meant.

'I have the power of telepathy,' said Paige. 'I can channel it to go into your memory and therefore see for myself. It does not require you having to tell me nor will you have to witness it again.'

Daisy nodded. 'O-Okay.'

'Okay, Daisy, take my hands,' said Paige.

Daisy took Paige's hands. Paige shut her eyes and thought:

'I am Daisy. I am at the restaurant on my date with Alec when his friend shows up.'

Paige felt the familiar head rush of being thrown forward.

_Paige – no, she was Daisy now – Daisy opened her eyes. She sat in the posh dimly lit restaurant at a candle lit table for two. A man with short dark hair and some facial hair sat opposite her at the same table – Alec._

_Suddenly a man approached the table. Alec saw him and recognised him immediately._

_'Wreck, what are you doing here?' asked Alec hurriedly._

_'I need to talk to you in private,' said Wreck, as he looked from Alec to Daisy and back to Alec again._

_Alec nodded and then turned to Daisy._

_'Daisy, I will be back in a few minutes,' said Alec._

_Daisy smiled. 'Okay.'_

_Daisy watched as Alec and Wreck walked out of the back entrance of the restaurant. As Daisy turned her attention back to the table she was sat at, she realised that a complete stranger was now sitting where Alec had sat moments before. Although he was a stranger to Daisy in this memory, Paige recognised him – it was Leo._

_'Excuse me, but that seat is taken,' said Daisy._

_'Daisy, I need you to listen to me. You need to get out of this restaurant and never go looking for Alec again,' warned Leo._

_'How do you know my name?' said Daisy worriedly._

_'Never mind that, Daisy,' said Leo. 'Alec is bad news. You need to keep away from him!'_

_'You are a complete stranger! Why should I listen to you? I have known Alec for months now,' said Daisy. 'There is nothing wrong with him.'_

_'Daisy,' said Leo._

_Daisy stood up and began to walk away from the table. Leo got up and followed her._

_'Leave me alone,' said Daisy._

_'Daisy, listen to me!' said Leo._

_Daisy pushed open the door that she had seen Alec and Wreck go through. It led to an alley way._

_The door closed behind Daisy and Leo. Daisy stopped when she saw three figures by the dumpster. Two of the figures were attacking the third, and Daisy recognised the attackers: Alec and Wreck._

_The victim fell to the ground. Alec put his hand on the victim's forehead. Daisy watched in terror as Alec's touch caused the victim to burn._

_Daisy was horrified. She could not run though. What had Alec just done to that man? Had she really seen him kill him with one touch, like a touch of death? Daisy felt someone touch her shoulder. This made her jump. She turned to see Leo behind her. He was trying to comfort her. Leo walked forward so as he was now beside Daisy._

_'Daisy, you should leave,' whispered Leo._

_Daisy had no intention to run. She needed Alec to know what she had just witnessed him do._

_Alec and Wreck turned to see Daisy and Leo standing in the alley way._

_Alec went pale at the sight of Daisy, but then anger appeared on his face when he spotted Leo beside her._

_Alec and Wreck glared maliciously at Leo._

_'White lighter!' growled Wreck._

_'What whatter?' said Daisy. She was still in shock._

_In a puff of smoke, a crossbow appeared in Wreck's hands. Wreck pointed the crossbow at Leo._

_'Daisy, leave now,' said Leo, his eyes on the crossbow._

_'Daisy, don't listen to that loon,' said Alec._

_'Alec, what did you do to that man?' asked Daisy. 'And how did your friend make that crossbow appear out of nowhere?'_

_Wreck snarled. 'Don't worry, Daisy. Not only can I make this crossbow appear, but I can also make that white lighter disappear!'_

_Wreck fired an arrow. Daisy turned in surprise to see Leo disappear in blue and white lights before the arrow had a chance to connect with him. Daisy got another surprise when Leo reappeared on her other side in blue and white lights._

_'What is going on?' asked Daisy. 'Who are all you people?'_

_Finally able to move, Daisy stepped back from Alec, Wreck, and Leo._

_'Daisy, run,' said Leo. 'Run now.'_

_'Shut up!' said Alec. 'Daisy, stay here. You are safe. I won't hurt you.'_

_'Daisy, run!' said Leo more insistently._

_'She won't run, Leo! She loves me!' said Alec._

_Leo held out his hand for Daisy to take. Daisy looked at Leo's hand quizzically._

_'Take my hand and I can get you out of here,' said Leo._

_Daisy looked back up at Alec. A crossbow had appeared in Alec's hand and he was now pointing it at Leo too. Leo had two crossbows pointed his way._

_'Leo, don't you dare orb her away from me,' said Alec._

_Alec seemed so different to his usual self. What had he been hiding from Daisy? Daisy took Leo's hand._

_'Don't you dare orb out or else,' repeated Alec._

_Leo smirked. 'Or else what? Try that line again when you and Wreck have become better shots with your crossbows.'_

_Suddenly the ground dematerialised from around Daisy. When it re-materialised around her, she was standing in a park with Leo._

_Daisy let go of Leo's hand and nearly fell to the ground._

_'Orbing for the first time will do that to you,' chuckled Leo. Leo pointed to the bench that was right next to them. 'Here, take a seat.'_

_Daisy sat down. Leo sat down next to her._

_Daisy had finally found some courage in her voice._

_'What is going on? Who are you? Why did I see Alec ki – take another person's life? How did he even do that? How did you get us here? What's going on?' said Daisy._

_In an attempt to soften the tense atmosphere, Leo smiled and said, 'I think you said that last one twice.'_

_'Tell me,' said Daisy._

_Leo's smile disappeared, he was back to his serious face._

_'The first thing I should say is that magic exists,' said Leo. 'My name is Leo. I am a white lighter. I am like a guardian angel for future white lighters. Daisy, you are destined to become a white lighter.'_

_'I don't care about that part! Even if none of that made sense to me! I need to know about Alec,' said Daisy._

_'Daisy, that first part was necessary in order for you to understand what I am about to say about Alec,' said Leo._

_Daisy sighed and took in everything Leo had said so far._

_'Okay. So you think that I am destined to become a guardian angel like you? So I would just end up doing what you do which is looking out for more future white lighters,' said Daisy._

_Leo nodded. 'And helping witches.'_

_'Witches?' said Daisy._

_'Don't worry. Information about witches is not a necessary part of this explanation,' said Leo._

_'Then what is necessary? What do I need to know about Alec?' asked Daisy._

_Leo sighed. 'Alec is… he is a dark lighter. They are naturally the enemies of white lighters. Most of the time a dark lighter will track down either white lighters or future white lighters and attempt to kill them.'_

_'Alec has not tried to kill me,' said Daisy, welling up again. 'He loves me.'_

_Leo sighed again. 'Daisy, I think Alec's plan is just to seduce you. He wants to bring more dark lighter children into the world… If you understand what I am getting at.'_

_Daisy slapped Leo._

_'How dare you say that about Alec? How dare you insinuate that? I have known him for months now! He loves me!' shouted Daisy._

_Leo rubbed his sore cheek._

_'Daisy, I don't think he loves you. Dark lighters are evil, and evil cannot possibly feel love,' said Leo. Leo paused to flinch, expecting another slap that did not arrive. 'He manipulated you.'_

_Daisy shook her head. 'This cannot be true…'_

_'I am so sorry,' said Leo._

_'I should have staid and listened to his side of the story. You are probably the evil one, and he is the good guy in all this,' said Daisy._

_Leo sighed again. 'If you believe that, why did you let me take you away?'_

_'I just witnessed my boyfriend kill an innocent man!' shouted Daisy._

_There were people passing them in the park. Some of them turned to look at Leo and Daisy when Daisy said this for a split second before the people carried on walking._

_'Ssshh!' said Leo. 'You don't want to announce something like that in public.'_

_'Was that innocent man a future white lighter?' asked Daisy._

_Leo nodded._

_'Then why did you not save him?' asked Daisy._

_'He was not my charge,' said Leo. 'Wreck, Alec's friend, had killed that future white lighter's white lighter moments before. I turned up to warn you about Alec. I did not know what he was doing outside; all I knew was that I had sensed two dark lighters in close presence to you.'_

_'If you can sense them, then why have you not turned up over the last few months?' asked Daisy._

_'I have other new charges who have kept me busy recently,' said Leo. Paige wondered if this was a reference to the Charmed Ones. 'I have made sure to keep an eye on you. I only interfered now because of how dangerous it was all getting for you.'_

Paige felt a jolt. She was back in the Los Angeles apartment. Paige let go of Daisy's hands.

'Thank you for letting me see that,' said Paige.

Daisy nodded.

'I am so sorry,' said Paige.

Daisy nodded silently.

'May I ask: when did Leo intervene? When did he tell you all of this? When did that event occur?' asked Paige.

'That was yesterday,' said Daisy.

Paige's jaw dropped. 'He has been talking to me about your predicament for months now. How did he only wait until yesterday to act?'

'You saw my memory,' said Daisy. 'You saw that I asked him that exact same question. You saw his answer that was not really a proper answer.'

Paige nodded. 'Next time I see Leo I am going to have a moan at him about that.'

Paige and Daisy jumped when they heard a man chuckle.

'It's funny to hear you say that, because you may never get the chance to see Leo again,' said the man.

Paige looked up. It was Alec and he was pointing a crossbow at Paige.

* * *

**A/N:** Paige does not know the poison from the arrow could kill her, but you will have to wait and see if she gets shot. Please review!


	45. WBWGG (And Playing Cupid Again)

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews. Glad to have a positive response considering I am ignoring a full episode for the first time in this fan fiction.

* * *

**Chapter Forty Five: When Bad Warlocks Go Good (And Playing Cupid Again)**

Paige gulped. Daisy stood up so as she was between the crossbow and Paige.

'Daisy, get out of the way,' said Paige.

'I won't let you harm her,' said Daisy to Alec.

'Even if he did fire it at me, it won't be fatal,' said Paige. 'The poison in those arrows is only fatal to white lighters.'

'Daisy, come back to me,' said Alec, lowering his crossbow.

Paige stood up so as she was beside Daisy.

'No…' said Daisy hesitantly.

'You love me, Daisy! I know you do,' said Alec. 'I am the same person as I was yesterday.'

Daisy shook her head slowly.

'What have you done to Leo?' asked Paige.

Alec smirked. 'I found out that Leo was trying to send me on a wild goose chase, so I decided to send him on a wild goose chase of his own. Don't worry. I have not harmed him. He just won't be back for a little while.'

Paige slowly reached into her bag for her phone. All she had to do was press the speed dial button and it would ring through to Halliwell manor. She would not need to speak into the phone. Her sisters would only need to hear the conversation occurring in the apartment to know that Paige was in trouble.

Alec was too fast for Paige. He pointed his crossbow at Paige's hand and the phone went flying across the room, attaching to the wall with the help of the arrow.

Paige scowled. 'That was my phone!'

'Would you have preferred it if I had hit your hand with the arrow instead?' said Alec, smirking. 'Besides, I could not risk you calling Leo back here.'

'Why would I need my phone to do that when I can just call his name?' asked Paige irritably.

Alec smirked. 'My wild goose chase included Leo going down to the under world. He won't hear any calls from down there, nor will he be able to sense anything going on up here.'

Paige sighed. 'Alec, there is one little issue with your plan. Actually, two. Firstly, I – a powerful witch with powerful witch contacts, even if you just smashed my only way of contacting them easily – am here. Secondly, Daisy does not want to go with you.'

Ignoring Paige, Alec said to Daisy, 'Daisy. Come with me and I will explain everything to you! You know I love you, and I know you still love me.'

Daisy did not reply. She stepped further from Alec, staring at him with tears in her eyes.

'Daisy,' said Alec, a pained expression on his face.

'Alec, if you want to explain it to her,' said Paige. 'Do it here and now, with me as a witness to it all.'

Alec nodded. He allowed the crossbow to vanish in a puff of smoke and sat down on the sofa.

'Daisy, would you like to take a seat?' said Paige.

Daisy looked at Paige and whispered hurriedly, 'Paige! What are you doing? Why are you letting him be here? Leo told me you would make sure I was not harmed!'

Paige smiled. 'I can read Alec's thoughts. He does not appear to have any negative intentions for being here. If I thought he was a threat – or if I think he is suddenly going to be a threat – I would get you out of here in a split second.'

Daisy looked away from Paige, mulling over the idea. Daisy slowly sat down on the chair furthest away from Alec. Paige sat down on the coffee table, so as she was closer to Alec, in case he suddenly tried to attack Daisy.

Fitting nicely back into her cupid-esque role that she seemed to play a lot around Prue and Andy, Paige said, 'Alec, would you care to explain the scene that Daisy witnessed? And keep in mind that Daisy now knows that you are a dark lighter and that she is a future white lighter. Plus Daisy also has been alerted to the relationship between white lighter and dark lighter kind.'

Alec sighed. 'Daisy, it is no lie that I have killed white lighters and future white lighters in the past. I cannot say that I am not proud of it…'

Through teary eyes Daisy glared at him.

'You are not helping your case,' said Paige to Alec.

'I am not going to lie. It is in my nature to kill white lighters,' said Alec.

'Paige, why is he still here?' said Daisy through tears.

'Alec, if you don't say anything more constructive, I am going to have to ask you to leave,' said Paige.

'Daisy, what I am trying to say is, I cannot change who I am,' said Alec. 'When I first met you, I had been assigned to kill you. However, I fell in love with you at first sight. Daisy, I love you.'

Daisy shook her head. 'You cannot say that. You cannot talk about murdering people so easily and then say something like that!'

Paige suddenly realised that this may not have been such a good idea.

'Alec, I think you should leave,' said Paige.

'I won't. Not until Daisy admits that she still loves me,' said Alec.

'Alec, if you don't leave now, I will have to vanquish you,' said Paige.

Alec laughed and said sarcastically, 'Yeah, because this apartment is so full of potion ingredients, isn't it?'

'I have powers,' said Paige.

'Yes, but you are a white lighter's apprentice, even if you are a witch, so I suspect your powers are only passive,' said Alec.

'Fine, if you won't leave, we will,' said Paige.

Paige stood up. Daisy followed suit and stood up too. Alec stood up.

'Daisy, wherever you go, I will follow,' said Alec. 'I understand that you are scared because of what you found out about me, but I would _never_ let any harm come to you. I love you.'

'Stop saying that!' cried Daisy.

'I will leave for now to give you two a chance to talk,' said Alec. 'I will be back at nightfall.'

Alec orbed out.

Daisy collapsed onto the chair in tears.

Paige sat back down on the coffee table, but now she was facing Daisy.

'Daisy,' said Paige.

Daisy wiped her tears away and scowled at Paige.

'Why did you let him stay and talk?' shouted Daisy. 'Why does Leo trust you? All you have done is caused more trouble!'

'Except for the Leo part, your reaction sounds exactly like what my older sister says when I meddle in her love life,' said Paige, not taking what Daisy had said to heart. Paige knew that Daisy had only said it because she was angry.

Daisy's expression suddenly became puzzled.

'You have siblings?' asked Daisy.

Paige suddenly noticed her slip up.

'Er, you cannot tell Leo that I told you that,' said Paige.

'Why not?' asked Daisy.

'Well, I don't know if Leo has told you this, but I am his adopted daughter,' said Paige. 'I recently found out who my real family was and he cannot know. Or at least, if he does find out, I would rather he found it out from me.'

Daisy nodded. 'Okay. I won't tell him.'

'Thank you,' said Paige.

'Now can you tell me why you let Alec stay and talk?' asked Daisy. 'And why did you not argue against his statement of returning here later?'

Paige sighed. 'I needed to hear his side of the story. Plus I wanted to have this chance to talk to you again before he returns with another ultimatum.'

'What more is there to talk about?' said Daisy hysterically.

'The fact that you still love him,' said Paige.

Daisy went silent, but Paige could read her thoughts.

'Daisy, you are still in shock from finding out what he is and what he does, but you do love him,' said Paige.

'I know I do,' said Daisy. 'How can I admit that when he is… evil?'

'I understand the dilemma,' said Paige. 'You love him. He loves you. You are a kind hearted human with moral values. He is a killer. How can you ever accept what he does?'

'Exactly,' said Daisy. 'Which is why it is best that I just keep away from him.'

'That is Leo's mission statement,' said Paige.

'It's not yours, is it?' said Daisy.

Paige shook her head. 'Avoiding Alec is not going to get him off your back. If anything it will just make him even worse, especially because he knows that you still love him.'

Daisy looked at Paige.

'Then what can I do? There is no way I can ever be with him,' said Daisy.

'I have an idea,' said Paige. 'However, you may not like the sound of it. I know for sure that if Leo was here he would forbid it straight away.'

Daisy suddenly remembered what Alec had said about Leo.

'Do you think Alec was telling the truth about not harming Leo?' asked Daisy.

Paige nodded. 'Alec could have killed me, he had the crossbow pointed at me before I had even noticed he was in the room, but he did not. I think if he was softened by you enough to not kill me, he was probably telling the truth about not killing Leo.'

'I thought you said that the poison in those arrows was not fatal to you anyway, because you are not a white lighter,' said Daisy.

'I know, but if an arrow hit me and I did not get medical attention fast enough, I would probably bleed to death,' said Paige light heartedly.

Daisy winced. 'Fair point.'

Paige nodded.

'So what is your plan?' Daisy asked.

'You are not going to like it,' said Paige.

'Tell me,' said Daisy.

Paige sighed. 'You should go on a date with Alec.'

'What?' shouted Daisy in disbelief.

'I told you that you would not like it,' said Paige.

'How does going on a date with my psycho killer boyfriend help the situation?' said Daisy.

'It will soften the blow on him having to say goodbye to you,' said Paige.

'Excuse me? Can you explain?' said Daisy.

'Well, we know that when he returns tonight, Alec is going to give you some sort of ultimatum, probably along the lines of threatening to kill everyone important to you until you admit you love him,' said Paige.

Daisy shivered at the thought of being the reason why a maniac would go after her family and friends.

'Don't worry. It won't come to that,' said Paige. 'I think that if we let him go on one last date with you, you can convince him that although you do still love him, you can no longer be around him.'

'Why can't I just try to convince him while in this apartment when he comes back tonight? Why do I have to go on a date to convince him?' said Daisy.

'He is not currently in the state of mind for a rejection, hence what I keep saying about the ultimatum,' said Paige.

'And how does a date change his state of mind?' asked Daisy.

'It will help him to believe that you really do love him, hopefully,' said Paige. Then to avoid any misunderstanding, Paige added quickly, 'Obviously, you only have to go as far as the dinner. I don't expect you to go home with him after.'

'I still do not understand how that could stop him from giving his final ultimatum,' said Daisy.

'I am hoping it will make him understand why the two of you cannot work out together,' said Paige. 'At the same time, he will know that you do love him, and therefore, he would be able to go on with his evil life of being a dark lighter while you get on with your life.'

Daisy nodded slowly.

Paige looked at her watch. It was almost midday. They had ages before nightfall.

'So – I think I asked this earlier, but I will ask again – what do you do for fun in Los Angeles?' asked Paige.

* * *

They spent the day with Daisy giving Paige a tour of the local area. Paige could tell that Daisy was not able to focus on the events of the day as her mind was probably thinking about the events that would occur that evening.

They returned to the apartment just before dusk. When they entered, Daisy sat down on the sofa, anxiously awaiting the unwanted arrival of Alec. Paige went into the kitchen area to make some coffee for her and Daisy.

* * *

When nightfall came, Alec orbed into the apartment. Daisy and Paige were sat on the sofa. They looked at Alec.

'Evening, ladies,' said Alec, who perched himself on the coffee table.

'Alec, Daisy has come to a decision,' said Paige.

Alec nodded slowly. 'Have you come to the correct decision?' Alec asked Daisy.

Daisy sighed. 'Alec, I am willing to go on one more date with you. We can use that as a chance to talk everything over.'

Alec nodded slowly. 'I can agree with that. You will hear me out. After that we can get back to being a couple.'

'Alec, that is not the intention of the date,' said Daisy. 'We are going to talk things over, that is it.'

'For now,' said Alec. 'How does picking you up from here at six o'clock sound? Dinner and a movie?'

'I only have one condition,' said Daisy.

'I am listening,' said Alec.

'We make it a double date. Paige comes with a date of her own,' said Daisy.

'What?' said Paige, completely caught off guard by the suggestion.

Daisy turned to Paige.

'Paige, I cannot be by myself with Alec for this date. I need you there, and the only way to do that without you being a third wheel is to make it a double date.'

Paige sighed. 'How can I say no to that? The only problem is I would never be able to contact my boyfriend in time for this date.'

'I can live with it being a double date…' said Alec. 'Are you on about Leo, Paige?'

Paige quivered in disgust. 'Alec, Leo is like a dad to me. I would prefer if you never suggested such a thing like that ever again.'

Alec chuckled. 'So who will be your date then?'

'Well, I am not going to ask a random guy off the street,' said Paige. 'And it needs to be someone who knows that I am only there to act as a friend for Daisy.'

'I can bring a friend for you,' Alec said. 'He would never want a romantic attachment with a witch so he fits your description perfectly.'

Paige sighed and nodded.

'See you tomorrow at six, Daisy,' said Alec. 'Paige, I will come with your date.'

'Don't call him my date, call him your friend,' said Paige.

Alec chuckled and then orbed out.

'Sorry about that, Paige,' said Daisy. 'I just don't think I could go through with this alone.'

Paige sighed. 'That's okay, Daisy. I can understand why you wanted to make it a double date. And I guess it will be interesting talking to a dark lighter for the evening.'

* * *

Paige decided she had better phone the manor. Phoebe had told her to keep in touch, so Paige would. Then Paige remembered that her phone was broken. Rather than asking Daisy if she could use her landline phone, Paige went down to the street and found a payphone.

Paige picked up the receiver and said, 'Operator. Can I make a collect call?'

Paige gave the operator the area code and the manor's telephone number.

'Who should I tell them is phoning?' asked the operator.

'Just say Paige,' said Paige.

A minute later, Paige had been connected through to the manor.

'Paige!' It was Phoebe.

'Hey Pheebs,' said Paige.

'Can I ask you where you are?' asked Phoebe.

'I am not too sure if I am allowed to tell you,' said Paige. 'It is like doctor-patient confidentiality, but with charges and magic.'

'Yeah, but I accepted this as a collect call and Prue is going to kill me if we end up with a huge phone bill,' said Phoebe.

Paige laughed. 'Fine, I guess I can tell you. There is no need to worry about the cost of the phone call. I am still in California. In fact, I am in L.A.'

'Oh, not fair,' said Phoebe. 'I have always wanted to go there.'

'So have I missed much in San Francisco today?' asked Paige.

Phoebe laughed.

'Is that a yes?' asked Paige.

'Well, when you live a Charmed life, there are never quiet days,' said Phoebe.

'What happened?' asked Paige.

'Let's start with the simple part,' said Phoebe. 'I went behind Piper's back to set her up on a date with Josh.'

Paige laughed. 'So I am not the only sister that meddles with another sister's love life!'

'I think it is a family trait,' laughed Phoebe.

'So what is the not-so-simple part of the events I missed today?' asked Paige.

'Prue met a warlock today,' said Phoebe.

'Did you vanquish him?' asked Paige.

'What part of not-so-simple did you not understand?' asked Phoebe.

'You never used the term 'not-so-simple', I did,' said Paige. 'What happened then?'

'Turns out this warlock is going to be ordained tomorrow,' said Phoebe. 'He wants to be good and that is his only way of escaping evil.'

'Then what is the problem?' asked Paige.

'His warlock brothers,' said Phoebe.

'I see,' said Paige.

'Him and his two half brothers form the evil version of the Charmed Ones,' said Phoebe.

'Cool,' said Paige. Then she corrected herself, adding the following to sound like she did not think it was a cool concept – even though she did think an evil version of the Charmed Ones was a cool concept, 'I mean, oh no. That is bad. There is such thing as the evil Charmed Ones?'

Phoebe laughed. 'Yeah. So Prue has taken it in her stride to make sure that Brendan – the good warlock – gets ordained tomorrow.'

'How are you going to do that? You cannot watch him twenty four seven,' said Paige.

'Well, er… he is… er… staying over at the… manor tonight,' said Phoebe hesitantly.

'Whoa, okay,' said Paige.

'Yeah. I was thinking. They are the evil version of the Charmed Ones, right?' said Phoebe.

'So you told me,' said Paige.

'Well, there are two brothers with one half brother,' said Phoebe. 'When you put them parallel to us, the two older brothers could be Prue and Piper. The half brother could be you. So could there be another brother – one who is fully related to the two eldest, but older than Brendan?'

'Are you hoping that both the evil brothers get vanquished just in case they do find another way of reconstituting their evil version of the Power of Three?' asked Paige.

'Yep,' said Phoebe. 'New topic, please. How has your day been?'

'I really should not tell you,' said Paige. 'Doctor-patient confidentiality.'

'Oh, but you told me where you are,' said Phoebe.

'That is different,' said Paige.

'I am pretty sure you always moan at Prue, Piper, and me for using those three words,' said Phoebe.

Paige laughed. 'Anyway, I should be going. Tell Prue and Piper that I said 'hi'. Oh and say 'hi' to Andy for me too. He seems to pop around to see Prue most days. I am surprised he does not live there yet.'

Phoebe laughed. 'Bye, Paige.'

'Bye, Pheebs.'

Paige put the phone down and went back to Daisy's apartment.

* * *

**A/N:** That is strange: I did not end this chapter with a cliff hanger. Please review!


	46. WBWGG (And Double Dating Dark Lighters)

**A/N:** I felt like _Charmed_ gave up on dark lighters after the second season. After the second season, dark lighters ended up being just another variation of a demon with the difference that they killed white lighters. I think they should have made them more three dimensional than that. Oh well. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Forty Six: When Bad Warlocks Go Good (And Double Dating Dark Lighters)**

Six o'clock the following evening came by quite quickly. Paige had expected for Leo to turn up all day, but he had not. It looked like the wild goose chase was taking Leo a while. How had Alec managed to outsmart Leo at something that Leo had originally been attempting to use to outsmart Alec?

It was almost six o'clock. Daisy and Paige were ready for their dates – even though both were not looking forward to it.

At six o'clock, Alec orbed in. A split second later, a second dark lighter orbed in. Paige recognised the second dark lighter instantly as the dark lighter that Paige had seen in Daisy's memory: the dark lighter called Wreck.

Wreck had short curly hair. He was definitely good looking – why did the bad guys always have to be good looking?

'Wreck, this is Paige,' said Alec. 'Paige, this is Wreck.'

Wreck held his hand out for Paige to shake. Paige shook it. When she let go of his hand, Wreck rubbed his hand on his shirt as if he had just touched something dirty and disgusting.

'Nice to meet you,' said Wreck with little meaning in his words.

'Nice to meet you too,' said Paige.

'I want you to know that I hate witches as much as I hate white lighters,' said Wreck.

'That is not news to me,' said Paige. 'I want you to know that I have a boyfriend, and even if I didn't, I would never normally be seen with you in public.'

'Understood,' said Wreck.

'Should we make our way to the cinema?' said Alec.

'Can we walk?' said Daisy.

'Daisy, we are doing this date so as you can get to know the part of me that you never knew before,' said Alec. 'Take my hand. I will orb you there.'

Daisy sighed. 'Alec, I would rather not.'

'Daisy, honey,' said Alec.

'Don't call me that,' said Daisy.

'Er, I am with Daisy on this,' said Paige. 'Firstly, she does not want to. Secondly, if the two of you were to orb ahead, then I would be forced to get Wreck to orb me to the cinema; that is something that I definitely don't want to happen.'

'Agreed,' said Wreck, looking disgusted at the thought of having to orb a witch – Paige – anywhere.

'Looks like three against one,' said Paige. 'We walk.'

Alec sighed. 'Fine.'

* * *

The four of them left the apartment. When they got onto the street, Alec and Wreck were walking ahead of Daisy and Paige. Suddenly Wreck slowed down so as he was walking in time with Daisy and Paige.

'Daisy, walk ahead with Alec,' said Wreck.

'Don't worry, Daisy,' said Paige. 'I won't go anywhere.'

Daisy nodded and walked ahead to catch up with Alec. Paige was now walking side by side with Wreck.

'Don't think I wanted to walk with you, witch,' said Wreck. 'Alec wanted to walk with Daisy so made me walk with you.'

'We don't have to talk,' said Paige.

'Good,' said Wreck.

'I do have a name by the way,' said Paige. 'As I have told a warlock before, people do not go around calling me 'witch' all the time.'

Wreck sneered. 'If it irritates you, I will continue to call you it, witch.'

Paige sighed. 'Fine then, I will just have to call you Nervous Wreck.'

Wreck glared at Paige. 'How dare you toy with my nickname in that way! I am not a nervous wreck! Never was, never will be!'

'Wreck is your nickname?' said Paige.

'Yes, my name is Derek,' said Derek. 'However, I earned the nickname, Wreck, because I am great at wrecking the lives of white lighters.'

'Now I know that, your choice is either for me to call you Nervous Wreck or Derek,' said Paige.

Derek glowered at Paige. 'Call me, Wreck, witch!'

'I don't want to, Derek,' said Paige.

Paige and Derek stopped because Alec and Daisy had come to a stop outside the cinema.

'What film are we seeing tonight?' Paige asked Alec.

'That was not going to be my question,' said Derek.

Paige looked at Derek quizzically. Derek looked at Paige.

'We are dark lighters, witch,' said Derek. 'Just like your idiotic white lighter pals, we don't get paid to do our duties.'

'Then how were the two of you expecting to pay for this movie and dinner?' asked Paige.

Derek rolled his eyes. 'You have finally caught up with my point, witch.'

'Alec,' said Daisy. 'If you do not have money, how did you pay for all those dates we had?'

Alec suddenly looked guilty. Derek sneered.

'Alec killed innocent bystanders for their money,' said Derek.

'Wreck! Why did you have to tell her that?' said Alec sheepishly.

'You know I don't want to be here, that's why,' said Derek. 'I don't even understand whether being with Daisy is part of an evil plan or whether you actually love her now!'

'I love her!' said Alec.

Paige cleared her throat to get the two dark lighters' attention.

'No one is killing any innocents on my watch,' said Paige. 'I will pay.'

Paige got out her purse. Great, she was now paying for a double date that she did not want to be on.

Paige and Daisy joined the queue for tickets while Alec and Derek remained in the foyer area of the cinema.

'I don't want to be here, Paige,' said Daisy.

'I should never have pushed you into this, but we are both here now,' said Paige. 'Hopefully, you can convince Alec tonight that your relationship can go nowhere.'

Daisy nodded.

They reached the front of the queue and bought four tickets for a chick flick.

When Alec and Derek saw what film they had purchased tickets for, they scowled.

'A chick flick?' groaned Derek. 'Alec, I don't even want to be here. Do I really have to suffer through sitting next to a witch _and_ watching a chick flick?'

Alec sighed. 'I can suffer through anything if it means being with Daisy.'

'Besides, Derek,' began Paige. 'I have to suffer sitting next to you as much as you have to suffer sitting next to me.'

* * *

The four of them went into the dark cinema room and took their seats. Alec on one end sat next to Daisy. Paige was next to Daisy, and on Paige's other side sat Derek.

As the four of them sat and watched the film, Paige could hear Derek making snide remarks throughout.

'Heh, if she did that to me I would just send an arrow flying through her guts,' muttered Derek at one point. There was another notable moment when Derek said, 'This film would be so much better if the two main characters died.'

Paige hit Derek on the arm when she got annoyed at his ongoing commentary.

'What?' hissed Derek.

'People are trying to watch the film,' whispered Paige.

'Well, _I_ don't care about those people,' whispered Derek. 'They are complete idiots for paying to watch this garbage.'

'Just because _you_ have no concept of love,' whispered Paige.

'If you can tell that I don't, then why am I even here?' whispered Derek.

'I am trying to figure out if Alec actually does have true feelings for Daisy and the only way to do that was to agree to go on a double date,' whispered Paige.

'Well, _I_ am out of here,' whispered Derek. 'I feel like killing someone.'

Derek jumped up and began to make his way up the steps to exit the cinema. Paige followed him. She could not let him leave after that killer statement.

Derek had stopped when he reached the foyer, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light. Paige spotted him in the crowded foyer and approached him.

'Derek, I don't mind you leaving,' said Paige. 'What I do mind is the fact that you implied harming innocent people. Don't.'

Derek laughed and said with sarcasm, 'Don't? Don't? Oh, I am so scared!'

'I mean it!' said Paige sternly.

'What are you going to do?' said Derek. 'Think me to death? I know that is your only power, witch.'

'Ssshh!' said Paige. 'We are in public.'

Derek smirked. 'Scared of a little magic exposure, are we? So you would not mind if I did this?'

Derek allowed a crossbow to appear in his hands in a puff of smoke. Paige pulled him into a hug to hide the crossbow from the crowd. The crossbow was now concealed between them. Paige could feel the crossbow digging into her stomach.

'Get off me, witch!' said Derek. 'Or I will fire this crossbow into your stomach!'

'I won't release you from this hug until you make that crossbow disappear!' whispered Paige. 'You cannot have one of those in a public place!'

The crowded foyer was beginning to clear a little. Paige could no longer feel the crossbow.

Derek sneered. 'Fine. It is gone now. It was fun to see you panic like that. Now let go of me, witch.'

Paige let go of him. As she did this, she noticed a face staring at her from across the foyer. She recognised the face… Wilson!

Wilson was standing across the foyer. He looked upset. Why was he upset? Then Paige realised, Wilson must have turned up to surprise Paige and seen her hugging Derek!

Derek suddenly pulled Paige into a kiss.

Paige pushed Derek off of her. When she looked back across the foyer, Wilson was gone. Paige glared at Derek.

'What did you do that for?' scowled Paige. 'You do remember that you have no concept of love, right? Plus you hate everything about me!'

'Yes, but I saw you looking at that guy just now,' said Derek. 'I saw his expression. I saw your expression. It is not hard to comprehend that that guy must have been your boyfriend.'

'Then I repeat my question, why did you kiss me?' shouted Paige.

'You already said it, _I_ hate _you_,' said Derek. 'I thought I may as well mess up your love life.'

Paige shook her head. 'I-I-I…' She did not want Derek to see her give up or to see her cry, so she said, 'I need to go and check something.'

Paige walked into the girls' toilets. Standing by the sinks, she stared into the mirror and burst into tears. After a minute or two, Paige regained composure and wiped away her tears. She had to go and find Wilson, find out why he had come, and explain the misunderstanding.

Paige saw that Daisy had walked in.

'Daisy?' said Paige.

'Wreck said you were in here,' said Daisy.

'He did? You mean he went back to watch the film?' said Paige in surprise. Hadn't Derek just been about to leave?

'Yes,' said Daisy. 'Were you about to leave?'

Paige sighed. 'My boyfriend is in town. I need to find him. I have no phone otherwise I would be able to ring him.'

'You cannot leave me here with Alec and Wreck,' said Daisy. She took her phone out of her purse. 'Here. Use my phone. Ring your boyfriend. Tell him to come and meet you at my apartment later.'

Paige smiled. 'Thank you.'

Daisy smiled. 'I will see you back in the cinema in a few minutes?'

Paige nodded.

Daisy left.

Paige dialled Wilson's phone number. It had been a while since she had rung his phone considering the lack of network in the underworld.

Wilson picked up. 'Hello?'

'Wilson?' said Paige.

'Paige? I don't want to speak to you,' said Wilson.

'Wilson! We need to talk,' said Paige. 'What you saw was all wrong!'

'Fine, Paige, I will talk,' said Wilson. 'Are you still at the cinema?'

'Yes,' said Paige. 'Could you meet me at the apartment I am staying at in a few hours time? I will give you the address.'

'In a few hours time? What? So as you can finish your date first?' said Wilson. 'No way!'

'He is not my date,' said Paige. 'I need to explain.'

'Until you have explained, I cannot relax,' said Wilson. 'I will be at the cinema in five minutes.'

Wilson hung up. Paige sighed.

Paige left the girls' toilets and loitered in the foyer. A few minutes later, Wilson turned up.

The two of them sat on some empty seats in the foyer. Wilson looked angry. Paige was sure her own expression was one of guilt. She had done nothing wrong though.

'So, can we start with why you are here on a date?' asked Wilson.

'Could we go in chronological order and find out how you managed to be here first?' said Paige. 'Last I heard, you were in the underworld.'

'So it is fine to date other people if I am in the underworld?' said Wilson angrily.

'You took my words out of context. Plus that jerk is not my date,' said Paige.

Wilson took a deep breath to calm down. 'Sorry, Paige. It is just the fact that seeing you with him… It hurt, okay?'

'So how are you here?' asked Paige.

'Well, it is not healthy to stay in the underworld for a whole twelve months without taking some breaks to go up and get some sun,' said Wilson. 'I did not know I would be back on the surface until this morning. When I came back, I rang your phone, but got no reply.'

'Oh, er, a dark lighter broke it last night,' said Paige.

Wilson nodded. 'When I got no reply, I went straight to San Francisco. I remembered you telling me you lived with your sisters now. It is not hard to find the address of the Charmed Ones. When I turned up at the manor, at midday, Phoebe was happy enough to tell me you were in L.A. today. I got to L.A. an hour or so ago, got a map of the local area and scryed for you. I came straight to the cinema. I saw you hugging that jerk and then he kissed you.'

'So when do you go back?' asked Paige.

'Midnight,' said Wilson. 'That is not the point, Paige! Did you say you had to explain something?'

'Oh, yeah,' said Paige. 'Did Phoebe explain why I was in L.A.?'

'She said you were helping a white lighter out with a charge. I assume the white lighter is Leo?' said Wilson.

Paige nodded. 'Leo has been sent on a wild goose chase by a dark lighter so I had to take control. A dark lighter has fallen for a future white lighter, so I decided to try and get her to explain to him why they cannot be together by having the two of them go on a date.'

'And why do you have to go on a date too?' asked Wilson jealously.

Paige sighed. 'I was roped into it, so as it could be a double date. I could not leave the charge alone. I had no idea that you would be back today or you would have been my first choice.'

'So who is the jerk that you are with?' asked Wilson.

Paige hesitated. 'The most obnoxious dark lighter I have ever met. And that is saying something because over the years of knowing Leo, I have met many obnoxious dark lighters.'

'Yet you hugged and kissed him?' said Wilson.

'No! I hugged him to hide the crossbow in his hand from public view,' said Paige. 'And he kissed me because he saw me notice you and he wanted to make things worse.'

Wilson sighed.

'You do believe me, don't you?' asked Paige.

Wilson nodded slowly. Paige went to hug Wilson, but Wilson avoided Paige's embrace.

'Wilson?' said Paige. She could feel tears begin to roll down her cheeks.

'Paige, I don't know if our relationship is going to work out,' said Wilson.

'What do you mean?' said Paige. 'I know we don't see each other often, but that can change. I can come and visit you more.'

'And get killed by demons? No way,' said Wilson.

'Or you can come up here more often,' said Paige.

'You know I can't, I have research to do,' said Wilson.

'Our relationship has always worked well as a long distance thing,' said Paige.

Wilson shook his head. 'No… It hasn't. You are always missing me. I am always missing you. I am always wondering whether you have met someone better than me. And then when I saw you with that jerk just before…'

'There was nothing going on between us!' said Paige.

'Yes, but I felt so… so jealous, Paige,' said Wilson. 'I don't think this long distance relationship is working and since there is no way for us to be within distance of each other…'

'Don't say it, Wilson,' said Paige. 'Please don't.'

'Paige, one of us has to…' said Wilson.

'Wilson…' said Paige. 'I lo –'

Wilson interrupted Paige. 'Paige, please don't say that. Those three words will make this more difficult to do.'

'I don't want you to say the words you have on the tip of your tongue either,' said Paige.

'I have to,' said Wilson. 'One of us does. I am fine if you want to say it instead.'

'I don't want either of us to say it, Wilson,' said Paige.

Wilson sighed. He stood up. So did Paige.

'Paige, I am sorry,' said Wilson. 'We have to break up.'

Paige shook her head. 'Wilson…'

'Paige…' said Wilson.

Wilson began to walk away.

'Wilson!' said Paige.

Wilson turned around.

'Paige?' said Wilson.

'We are still going to be friends, right?' said Paige.

Wilson smiled and nodded. 'Of course, Paige. As soon as my research is over, I will make sure to visit you. And I hope you will have found someone special by then.'

Paige smiled through her tears. 'I hope you find someone special too.'

'Considering I will be in the underworld, my choice is my all-male research team or demons,' laughed Wilson. 'So I hope I can wait until I return home before finding someone.'

Paige laughed through her tears.

'Bye, Paige,' said Wilson.

This time Wilson allowed Paige to hug him. Wilson kissed Paige on the cheek, and then began to walk away again. Paige watched him exit the foyer onto the street.

Paige sat down on the foyer seat and covered her face with her hands.

* * *

Paige did not know how long she had been sitting there for, but she heard someone say her name. Paige looked up. Daisy, Alec, and Derek and a crowd of people were filing out of the cinema into the foyer.

Daisy, Alec, and Derek approached Paige.

'Paige, you missed almost half of the film,' said Daisy.

Paige handed Daisy her phone back. Then Daisy noticed Paige's tear streaked face.

'Paige! What happened with your boyfriend?' asked Daisy.

Paige saw Derek sneering behind Daisy. He obviously found Paige's current state quite funny. Paige wiped away her tears and stood up. She did not want to look weak in front of Derek.

'I will tell you later,' Paige said to Daisy. 'We have more important things to do, like go to the restaurant.'

Alec had heard the second bit and said, 'Good because I am starved. I have found the perfect little restaurant too.'

Paige frowned. 'Am I paying for this one too?'

Derek smirked. 'Depends. Either you pay or we can find an unfortunate innocent to pay – except the innocent would be paying with his life as well as his money.'

'I get it,' said Paige. 'I am paying.'

'Daisy, can we orb this time?' Alec asked Daisy as they exited the cinema onto the street.

Daisy shook her head. 'Walking is good.'

'And I would like to remind you that there is no way I am orbing that witch anywhere,' said Derek in reference to Paige.

Alec sighed. It was obviously going to be three against one again.

Like earlier, Daisy and Alec walked down the street side by side in front of Paige and Derek.

'So why did you go back to see the film?' Paige asked Derek. 'I thought you were on your way out.'

Derek shrugged. 'I had to come back because I had to find out how much I had managed to mess you up. There is no fun causing trouble without staying to watch the outcome.'

Paige grimaced. She did not want to give Derek the satisfaction of knowing that he had broken her and Wilson up.

'Well, my boyfriend believed me,' said Paige. 'I spoke to him and made it clear that it had all been a misunderstanding.'

'Then why hasn't he joined you on this date instead?' sneered Derek.

Derek had tugged a heart string there. Paige tried to not let her hurt show on her face.

'H-H-He was only popping in to say hi,' lied Paige. 'He has other commitments tonight.'

Derek chuckled. He was unconvinced.

'You are trying to tell me that your boyfriend came all the way to L.A. to surprise you just to not be able to spend the evening with you!' said Derek.

Paige scowled. 'Stop laughing, okay? This only makes things worse for you too! If my boyfriend had decided to stay for the date, then you would be free to go right now!'

Derek frowned.

'Which leads me back to the question: Why are you still here?' said Paige.

'I already told you why. To see the outcome of –'

Paige interrupted Derek. 'I have told you the outcome. So why are you still here now?'

Derek sighed. 'For the original reason I came. I am here to be Derek's wingman. Ha, get it? Wingman?'

Paige rolled her eyes. 'That joke only works with white lighters. White lighters are the ones who are similar to angels. You dark lighters are like their opposites.'

'So? In the way that white lighters are similar to angels, we are similar to evil angels, so my joke does work!' growled Derek.

'Whoa, someone is getting grouchy,' said Paige, happy that she could start annoying Derek again. He had already caused her so much pain that evening and she was not going to let him get away with it.

* * *

The four of them entered the restaurant that Alec had suggested. They went up to the bar where there was a 'Please wait here to be seated' sign.

A waiter appeared by the bar. 'Good evening. A table for how many, sir?'

'Two, please,' said Alec.

'I will go and find you a table, sir,' said the waiter. 'Wait here, please.'

As the waiter walked away, Derek growled at Alec.

'Alec! What? Why did you just say a table for two?' said Derek.

'I want to have dinner with Daisy by myself,' said Alec.

'Paige, please don't leave us,' said Daisy, slightly scared of being alone with Alec.

'Don't worry, Daisy,' said Paige. 'I will still be in the restaurant, okay?'

Daisy nodded.

The waiter had returned. Alec and Daisy left Paige and Derek to go and follow the waiter to their table.

Derek turned to Paige. 'Did you tell that future white lighter that we are staying?'

Paige nodded. 'I cannot leave her on her own, even if we might end up being seated at the other end of the restaurant. You can leave if you want, however pathetic I might feel at eating by myself in a romantic restaurant.'

'I told you, I am not leaving. I am Alec's wingman,' said Derek.

'However many times you try that joke,' said Paige. 'It will never be funny.'

The waiter had returned to the bar again. 'Table for how many, sir?'

'Two,' said Derek.

The waiter nodded and left to find a table.

Derek turned back to Paige. 'One day, I am going to tell you that joke and you _will_ laugh. Even if I have to kill you.'

Paige frowned. 'Are you implying that we have to see each other again after today?'

Derek grimaced. 'Good point. Fine, that means I will have to make you laugh at that joke tonight.'

The waiter had returned. 'Would you like to follow me to your table?'

Paige and Derek followed the waiter. They sat down at their table and the waiter left them to look at the menu.

The restaurant was pretty full and Paige could just about see Alec and Daisy sat at a table on the other end of the restaurant. There was no way that she would be able to overhear their conversation from here which meant that the only way to make sure everything was going okay was to keep her eye on them _and_ to use her telepathy.

Paige closed her eyes to try and zone in on the thoughts of Alec and Daisy. She needed to focus as there was a lot of noise coming from the people filled tables around them.

Paige lost her concentration when she felt something poke her. She opened her eyes. Derek had poked her softly with a fork. He was sneering.

'Sorry, did I break your concentration?' Derek sneered, not sorry at all.

What an evening it had been so far for Paige. She had been forced to go on a double date. Met the world's biggest jerk. Broken up with her boyfriend. Oh, and now she was having to have dinner at a romantic restaurant with the world's biggest jerk.

* * *

**A/N:** I really enjoyed writing this chapter despite the break up between Paige and Wilson. I think I enjoy writing the to-and-thro between Paige and Derek too much. Please review!


	47. WBWGG (And Dinner With The Wingman)

**A/N:** Some of the reviews for the previous chapter made me laugh, so I thought I would comment on those comments (or would it be review those reviews?).

'Derek is acting like a kid with a crush' – He is, isn't he? Maybe, just maybe, he does have some sort of concept of love within himself. Maybe, just maybe, Derek might return, but not within a season one storyline.

'Good work on the way that Alec paid for dates… dark lighters, huh' – Yeah, dark lighters, huh.

'As horrible as it sounds I wish the arrow had pricked Paige' – Not the nicest wish, but it makes sense why. Unfortunately the wait for that revelation is around seven chapters away.

'I can see them being best friends even though… Derek kills people like Paige' – I am sorry, but the 'even though… Derek kills people like Paige' bit made me laugh. I don't know why, it just did.

Thank you also to the reviews that I did not mention above.

* * *

**Chapter Forty Seven: When Bad Warlocks Go Good (And Dinner With The Wingman)**

'I am Alec's wingman,' said Derek snidely.

'_Please_, I am begging you. _Stop_ repeating that,' said Paige. 'It is not funny.'

Derek and Paige were now getting ready to order their desserts. Derek had made sure to be a continual infuriation to Paige throughout their starter and their main course. Paige doubted he was going to stop. He seemed to enjoy annoying her so much.

'It is your fault for asking me why I am still here again,' said Derek.

'Well, yeah, that is because you obviously don't want to be here,' said Paige. 'You cannot stand me which is why you keep irritating me on purpose.'

'Yes, but as I keep telling you, I have to be here because I am Alec's wingman,' said Derek.

'Still not funny,' said Paige.

Paige picked up her menu, using it to hide her face from Derek. She was pretending to be looking for desserts, when in fact she was trying to gain some focus to try and hear Daisy and Alec's thoughts. Every time she had tried doing this so far this evening, Derek had interrupted her.

Derek pulled the menu out of Paige's hand. Paige's concentration broke.

'Derek! You have your own menu,' said Paige.

'Yeah, but yours is better,' said Derek.

'Why?' groaned Paige.

Paige went to grab the menu which Derek had neglected in order to take hers. As soon as Paige picked up the menu, Derek dropped the one he was holding on the floor and grabbed this menu from Paige's hand too.

'Why?' said Paige in exasperation.

'Taking something away from a witch is my specialty,' chuckled Derek.

Paige sighed. 'So you are against the concept of love, right?'

'We covered that earlier this evening,' said Derek. He had put the menu back on the table, no longer interested in it because Paige no longer seemed to care that he had it.

'I know,' said Paige. 'What I wanted to ask you is: Do you think that Alec has a concept of love?'

'I see what you are trying to do. You want me to tell you whether he loves Daisy, or whether seducing Daisy is just part of an evil plan,' said Derek.

'You caught me,' said Paige mockingly. 'Now tell me.'

'I can't tell you because I am his wingman,' said Derek.

'Never going to be funny,' said Paige.

'Trust me, it will be, witch,' said Derek.

'Back to the point, if you say you cannot tell me, I will have to presume that Alec is evil and therefore make sure that he never finds Daisy again,' said Paige.

'I don't care, do I? I hate that he could have feelings for her,' said Derek before he realised what he had let slip.

'So you think Alec does have real feelings for Daisy?' said Paige.

Derek sighed. 'Maybe… I don't know. The original reason that he was sent to Daisy was to do exactly what Leo suspects. In fact, that is why I was not against helping Alec. Recently though, I have begun to suspect that he may have actually fallen for the future white lighter.' Derek paused to give an expression of disgust. 'The problem is, I can no longer tell whether this is part of his dark lighter scheme or whether it is that disgusting thing you call love.'

'How can you not tell?' asked Paige. 'Surely Alec has told you.'

Derek sighed. 'Whenever I ask Alec, he tells me that he is in love with that future white lighter, but for all I know that could be Alec lying to me in order to make his task easier to do.'

'I don't understand how you dark lighters can have no sense of love,' said Paige.

'You are a witch, you don't understand a lot of things,' said Derek.

'Thanks for the insult, but at least I am not a nervous wreck…' said Paige.

'It's Wreck!' shouted Derek.

Alec had approached the table.

'Where's Daisy?' Paige asked.

'She is still at my table,' said Alec. Then Alec turned to Derek and said, 'Wreck, we need to talk privately.'

'Gladly,' said Derek. 'I don't think I could have survived sitting at the same table as this witch for much longer.'

Derek stood up and followed Alec across the restaurant. They went out of the back exit. Suddenly, Paige noticed that someone had sat down where Derek had just been sitting. It was Leo. He looked angry.

'Leo!' said Paige in surprise.

'Since when did you call me Leo?' asked Leo. 'Hang on, I don't even recall you calling me 'dad' recently.'

'We can discuss that later,' said Paige. 'What are you doing here?'

'What am _I_ doing here? What am _I_ doing here?' said Leo angrily. 'What are _you_ doing here, Paige? Why is Daisy here and why were Alec and Wreck here?'

'Am I the only one who calls him Derek?' said Paige, trying to lighten the tension.

'Paige! Answer me!' said Leo.

'Wait… I am getting a sense of _déjà vu_…' said Paige.

'_Déjà vu_?' said Leo. 'Since when have you been sitting in a restaurant and I turn up suddenly?'

Paige stood up. 'Daisy's memory. Two days ago. She was sitting in a restaurant like this. Alec got up because Derek came and asked to speak privately. It was the other way round today obviously. They left through the back exit…'

Paige was rushing past tables towards the back exit now. Leo was following her and listening.

'You turned up at her table, just like you did just now,' said Paige.

'You think Alec and Wreck went outside to kill an innocent?' said Leo.

Paige pushed open the back door and emerged into the dark alleyway. The alleyway was empty except for a dumpster.

'Where do you think they have gone?' Paige asked Leo.

'Alec must have sensed my presence,' said Leo. 'He must have gotten Wreck so as they could ditch before we crossed paths.'

Paige sighed. 'Are you angry at me?'

'We will discuss that later,' said Leo. 'Let's get Daisy home first.'

Paige nodded. They walked back into the restaurant. Leo sat down opposite Daisy. Paige looked for a waiter.

'Excuse me,' Paige said to a waiter. 'Could we have the bill for this table and the table over there?'

A few minutes later the waiter had handed Paige both bills. Paige frowned when she saw the bill for her and Derek's dinners. It looked like Derek had chosen the most expensive choice for each course.

'Well, that's me broke,' said Paige, getting her money out of her purse to pay both tables' bills.

* * *

Leo orbed Daisy and Paige to Daisy's apartment. Paige said goodbye to Daisy. Leo told Daisy he would see her the next day. Then Leo orbed Paige into the attic at the manor.

Paige sat down on the attic sofa and dropped her bag of clothes on the floor. Leo remained standing.

'What were you thinking, Paige?' said Leo. 'Why did you have Daisy go on a date with Alec? As soon as you realised my plan had not worked you should have tried to keep Alec away from Daisy, not have them go on a date!'

Paige stood up.

'Apart from the fact that he is a dark lighter, there has been nothing to show me that he does not love her!' said Paige. 'I was using this as a chance to observe and make my own judgment, Leo!'

'Oh, and that is another thing, Paige! Why are you calling me Leo now?' shouted Leo.

Paige sighed. 'Whenever a conversation comes up about you, it is always Piper or Phoebe. Neither of them knows who you are to me, so out of habit I call you Leo.'

Leo nodded in understanding.

'I still cannot understand your reasoning for having Daisy go on a date with Alec,' said Leo.

'I still cannot understand why you assume that Alec's motives are evil,' said Paige.

'Paige, it was silly! It was dangerous!' said Leo. 'Daisy is my charge and you put her in danger!'

'You left me in charge, and you have no proof that Alec is a danger to her! He has not tried to harm her once!' shouted Paige.

The attic door opened. Phoebe poked her head in.

'Er, you two are creating a commotion. Prue and Piper are on their way up,' said Phoebe. 'Leo, I suggest you orb out before they get here.'

Leo orbed out. Phoebe entered the attic.

'They heard Leo talking?' Paige asked Phoebe.

'No. We could hear your voice and a male's voice, but we could not discern the conversation or tell who the guy was,' said Phoebe. 'I guessed it was Leo though, considering we realised your white lighter friend must have brought you back.'

Paige nodded slowly.

Prue and Piper entered the attic.

'Hey Paige,' said Prue. 'We heard shouting.'

'My white lighter friend was a little angry at me,' said Paige. 'I didn't follow his instructions. I kind of made up my own rules.'

Prue laughed. 'You definitely are a Halliwell.'

'Your white lighter friend did not want to stay for dinner?' said Piper.

'You haven't eaten yet?' Paige asked. She knew that it was around eleven in the evening.

'We have eaten,' said Prue. 'Food is Piper's way of saying that we would have liked to have met him before he left.'

'He had my mess to sort out,' said Paige. 'Well, he thinks I made a mess. I think he is not seeing things clearly.'

'Are you going to tell us anything?' Phoebe asked.

'Sorry, remember how I kept saying about doctor-patient confidentiality?' said Paige.

Phoebe nodded.

'So how did the warlock stuff go?' asked Paige.

'After a whole lot of trouble, we finally managed to save Brendan, the good warlock,' said Prue.

Paige smiled and muttered to herself, 'There is proof right there that Alec does not have to be evil.'

'So how did you like your surprise?' said Phoebe grinning.

'Oh yeah!' said Piper. 'I bet you were surprised to see Wilson.'

'The three of us were pleased to get a chance to meet him,' said Prue. 'He is a great catch, Paige. I would not let him go easily.'

Paige burst into tears.

'Paige, honey? What's wrong?' asked Piper.

Phoebe gave Paige a hug.

'Are you okay?' asked Phoebe.

'Paige, tell us. What's up?' said Prue.

'Wilson… He… He…' Paige was trying to speak in between sobs. 'He broke up with me.'

Prue gasped. Piper looked puzzled. Phoebe gaped.

All three asked, 'Why?'

Paige took a deep breath, hoping that her tears had finished. Paige sniffed.

'He… Wilson… He thought it would be best if we broke up,' said Paige. 'He did not think our long distance relationship was working.'

'This does not make any sense,' said Piper. 'When we saw him this afternoon, he looked so eager to surprise you.'

Paige sniffed again. 'He was eager to see me… And then he… He made a mistake and assumed I was with another guy… He got jealous… Then, when I explained the misunderstanding, he came to the conclusion that we were not going to work.'

'Paige…' said Phoebe. 'I am so sorry.'

'Paige, I think you need some ice cream therapy,' Piper said.

'Oh, can we make some hot chocolate too?' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe! Piper meant for Paige, not for us!' said Prue.

'Paige might want some hot chocolate…' said Phoebe innocently.

Paige managed a smile. 'Let's go and have some hot chocolate then.'

'And ice cream?' reminded Phoebe.

'Gosh, Pheebs, I thought _I_ was the one with the sweet tooth,' said Paige.

The four of them left the attic.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, short chapter. Oh, and as to the recent review for chapter forty five about more Leo/Paige father-daughter bonding. Over the next episode, things will be tense between the two of them because of this argument. It won't be resolved until _The Power of Two_. Sorry about that. Please review!


	48. OutOfSight (And Rites of Passage)

**A/N:** As last chapter was a lot shorter than my usual ones, I thought I would supplement that by providing you with a faster update. As to the review about Paige being 'super stubborn' – it is a Halliwell trait, isn't it? Plus, there is plenty more stubbornness in this episode.

The scene between Paige and the Book of Shadows in the attic is technically a season four scene. You will know what I mean when you read it. The actions are anyway. The reasons and excuses for the action in this fan fiction are different to that in the canon season four scene. Also, it is Piper that Paige tricks instead of Phoebe. I wonder if you have guessed the scene already? :)

* * *

**Chapter Forty Eight: Out Of Sight (And Rites of Passage)**

It had been a week since the disastrous double date with the dark lighters. Paige had run out of money and did not want her sisters to be paying for everything – Paige wanted to have some sort of input into the bills or grocery shopping. Therefore Paige had spent the week searching for a part time job.

It was a Friday evening and Paige had just been at an interview for a job she had seen advertised. She had not told her sisters that she was on the search for a job, therefore they did not know that she had been to an interview that morning.

Paige walked in through the front door of the manor and heard her three sisters talking from the kitchen. Paige made her way to the kitchen.

Piper was stirring something in a bowl at the kitchen counter. She had flour over her apron and her face. Phoebe was standing next to her, also slightly covered in flour, while Prue sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee.

Paige sat down next to Prue at the table.

'Hey Paige,' said Prue. 'I did not see you around this morning before I left for work.'

'That is because I left quite early this morning to prepare for my interview,' said Paige.

Immediately Piper stopped stirring and left the counter to sit down next to Paige.

'What's this about an interview?' Piper asked curiously.

Paige smiled at Piper. 'Why are you covered in flour?'

'I was baking a cake for –' Piper stopped when she noticed that Phoebe had taken over stirring the contents of the bowl. 'Phoebe!'

Phoebe turned to Piper and grinned. 'What?'

'I told you I do not need your help baking,' said Piper.

'I want to help bake the cake though,' said Phoebe. 'I love baking cakes.'

'No. You love eating cakes,' laughed Prue.

Phoebe ignored Prue and began to stir the bowl again. Piper stood up and tugged the bowl out of Phoebe's hands, causing some cake mix to fly across the room. Piper held her hands up to freeze the cake mix while it was in mid-air. Piper wandered over to the cake mix, and knocked it back into the bowl. However the flying cake mix had caused flour to scatter over the kitchen including onto Prue and Paige.

'Phoebe has been trying to help Piper bake the cake all afternoon against Piper's wishes,' explained Prue.

Paige nodded in understanding as she tried to brush some flour out of her hair.

Both Piper and Phoebe sat down at the table this time. Piper had the bowl of cake mix sat on her lap so as Phoebe could not get to it.

Paige laughed. 'Pheebs, even I know that no one in this house but Piper is allowed to use the kitchen.'

'Paige is definitely not allowed to use the kitchen,' said Piper as a joke, referring to the fire alarm incident.

'I don't mind that at all,' agreed Paige with a smile.

'So why did you not tell us you had an interview?' asked Phoebe nosily.

'I wanted to see how it went first,' said Paige.

'So you got the job?' said Prue.

Paige nodded.

'Oh my gosh, Paige! That is great news!' said Piper, leaning over the table to give Paige a congratulatory hug.

As Piper did this, the four sisters heard something fall to the floor. Slowly, already realising what it was, the four of them looked under the table. Piper had forgotten about the bowl being on her lap, so when she had leant across to hug Paige, she had knocked the bowl onto the floor. Surely enough there was an over turned bowl and cake mix covering the floor beneath the table.

Piper sighed. 'I will start again later.'

'I will help,' said Phoebe with a grin.

The four of them sat back on their chairs around the kitchen table.

Piper glared at Phoebe, before turning back to Paige.

'So you finally figured out your dream job then?' said Piper.

'Er, no,' said Paige.

'Then why did you apply for a job?' asked Prue. 'You know we don't make you pay bills or pay for the groceries.'

'Yes, but I was broke, and quite honestly, I cannot live off you three for the rest of my life. I have to chip in to the bills and groceries, and for the past few months I have been, but… I ran out of money, so I was kind of forced to get a part time job,' said Paige.

'Paige, this is the real reason why you did not want to tell us that you had an interview, isn't it?' said Piper. 'You knew that we would disagree with it, because we want you to get a job that you really want, and not just one for the sake of paying bills.'

'Is that really coming from the person who is practically managing a restaurant rather than living her dream: being the chef of her own restaurant?' said Paige, pointing out the irony – or hypocrisy.

'Paige, that is not the point, because I need that job so as I can contribute to paying the bills for the manor,' said Piper.

'How come you and Prue – and Phoebe when she has a job – are allowed to contribute to bills, but I am not?' asked Paige.

'You are our baby sister,' said Prue. 'That's why.'

'That makes no sense,' said Paige. 'Firstly, you were forbidding me from paying bills before you even knew I was your sister, and secondly, before you knew I was your sister, you thought Phoebe was the youngest, yet you always moaned at her about not having a proper job to contribute to the bills with!'

'Before this escalates,' interjected Phoebe. 'Can I ask what the job is?'

'Sure,' said Paige, trying to avoid eye contact with the glare that Prue was currently giving her. 'So I was reading the _Bay Weekly_ the other day, looking in their job section, when I noticed that one of the journalists for the newspaper was advertising a vacancy as their assistant. I rang him up and he told me to come for an interview today.'

'And the interview went well,' Piper concluded for Paige.

'Well, obviously, or I would not have already mentioned that I had gotten the job,' said Paige.

'So when do you start?' asked Piper, now trying to decrease the tension between Prue and Paige over who contributes to what.

'I start tomorrow actually,' said Paige.

'On a Saturday?' said Phoebe. 'It is not a Monday to Friday job?'

Paige smiled. 'Pheebs, news happens every day – even at the weekends.'

Phoebe groaned. 'Remind me never to work in the newspaper industry then. I need my weekends free.'

'You are not a journalist though,' said Prue. 'You are this guy's assistant, right?'

Paige nodded. 'Yes, but he wants me to take notes for him while he is on the hunt for a good story, so I need to go with him.'

'Are you still going with us to the park tomorrow morning?' asked Piper.

Paige suddenly remembered the reason that Piper had been baking the cake. Tomorrow was Dee's son's birthday and he was having a party at the park. Dee – who knew the Halliwell family (but not well enough to know their secret) – had asked Piper if she could make the cake and then invited the three Halliwell sisters and Paige – Dee did not know that Paige was their sister – to spend some time at the party.

'Er, I can stay for the start,' said Paige. 'I do not start until eleven. I was going to meet my boss somewhere in central San Francisco, but I can phone and ask him to meet me at the park. He will probably prefer that as I think he wanted to be around that area while hunting for a story.'

Piper smiled.

Phoebe frowned. 'Once again I am the only sister who does not have a job. That has not happened since before we knew you, Paige.'

'Was that a subtle hint that you want me to try and get you a job alongside me again?' laughed Paige.

'Of course not,' said Phoebe. 'Besides I might just start my own cake business.'

'Er, Pheebs, they are called bakeries or patisseries, not cake businesses,' said Prue.

'Plus, Pheebs, working with food is my thing,' said Piper.

Phoebe laughed. 'Ah, Piper, you are so protective of your food.'

Piper stood up and got a fresh bowl out of the cupboard. She got all the necessary ingredients out and began weighing them up. Phoebe went to take the bag of flour. Piper moved the bag of flour before Phoebe could take it.

'Pheebs, do you want to help?' said Piper.

'Yes,' said Phoebe.

'You want to help with getting this cake baked?' continued Piper.

'Yes,' said Phoebe.

'You don't mind what task I give you?' said Piper.

'Nope. I can do any task with no complaints,' said Phoebe.

Piper grinned. 'Thanks, Phoebe.'

Phoebe looked puzzled. 'Huh? What did I agree to do?'

'Well, someone needs to clean the original batch up off the floor,' said Piper, pointing under the table.

Phoebe sighed.

'The mop is in the cupboard, and there are rags in the cupboard under the sink,' said Piper.

Prue and Paige laughed as Phoebe went to get the mop.

'Good bargaining, Piper,' said Prue. 'You are getting better and better at the controlling big sister role everyday.'

'Hang on. Does that mean that Phoebe is probably going to play a similar trick on me one day?' said Paige perplexed.

Phoebe came back into the kitchen with the mop.

Prue and Piper turned to Paige.

'Sorry, little sis, but it is a rite of passage between the big and little sister,' said Prue.

'And as you are the youngest, there is no way you will ever have a little sister to manipulate like that,' laughed Piper.

* * *

The next morning, the four sisters were sat at a bench in the park. Piper was putting the last finishing touches to the cake, while Prue and Phoebe pestered Piper about Josh.

'And you are not sure you want to be a couple?' Prue asked Piper.

Paige let out a laugh. Prue turned to Paige.

'What's so funny?' asked Prue.

'You. I get moaned at every time I try to help you and Andy out,' said Paige. 'Suddenly you have found the light and want to meddle in Piper's relationship.'

'What? No, I am not meddling. I was just trying to find out what Piper's relationship status was,' said Prue. She turned to Piper. 'I am not meddling in your love life, am I?'

Piper smiled and shook her head. 'No, that appears to be Phoebe's job.'

Prue laughed. 'Wow. Each of us has one of our little sisters meddling in our love lives.'

'It is a rite of passage of being a little sister,' laughed Paige.

'Unfortunately, Prue, you can never experience that as you will never be a younger sister,' said Phoebe.

'I am Prue's little sister and I have never meddled in her love life,' said Piper.

'That is different, Piper,' said Phoebe. 'You were always busy being the middle sister, so you always mediated between Prue and my fights.'

Piper sighed. 'Your logic… It never makes sense.'

Dee was approaching the table. Prue's phone rang so Prue walked away to answer her phone.

Paige looked at her watch. 'Oh. I better go, it is almost eleven. I am supposed to meet my boss in another area of the park.'

'Bye,' said Piper.

'Good luck,' said Phoebe.

Paige stood up just as Dee reached the table and started talking to Piper.

Paige walked past Prue who was putting her phone back in her bag.

'Paige,' said Prue.

Paige turned around. 'What's up?'

'Claire wants me to go into work,' said Prue. 'I will just tell Piper and Phoebe that I am leaving, but then we can walk in the same direction.'

Paige nodded. Prue said goodbye to her two sisters and then returned to Paige. They began to walk away.

'So where are you meeting your boss?' asked Prue.

'The opposite side of the park to where you parked your car,' said Paige, stopping.

'So we are parting ways?' asked Prue.

Paige nodded. 'See you later, Prue.'

'Bye,' said Prue.

Prue walked past the kids who were playing a game of football while Paige turned in the opposite direction of the same path and began to walk by herself.

Paige stopped when she reached the gate that her boss, Eric, was supposed to be waiting at. Paige sighed, either he was late or he had gone for a wander around the park, because he was not at the gate.

* * *

After five minutes, Eric came running from inside the park up to the gate. He stopped to catch his breath when he saw Paige.

'Is everything okay?' Paige asked Eric.

Eric nodded. He smiled. 'I just got the biggest scoop!'

Paige smiled. 'You found an interesting story within the park?'

Eric nodded. He had finally caught his breath and he approached Paige.

'Follow me to my car, Paige,' said Eric. 'We need to go back to my office so as we can get background information on my story. I need evidence too.'

Paige nodded and followed Eric to his car.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Eric was sitting at his desk, searching on his computer. Paige had just come back from the office kitchen with two cups of coffee. She placed one on his desk and took a sip from the other.

'Thanks, Paige,' said Eric. His eyes were glued to the computer monitor. Paige could not see what he had up from the angle she was standing at.

'Are you going to tell me what the story is?' asked Paige. 'Maybe I can help you research it. As your assistant, I can help with research as well as make coffees.'

Eric looked up at Paige, contemplating the idea of sharing the story.

'Okay,' agreed Eric. 'You researching with me may help speed things up, and you may be able to find things out that I cannot.'

Paige smiled.

'I was walking around the park when I suddenly saw a woman stretch her hands out. Immediately, a little boy and a creepy individual floated into the air,' said Eric.

Paige frowned. Telekinesis… Prue's power. Except it could not be Prue. She did not channel telekinesis through her hands, and why would Prue be using it to throw a kid and a person up in the air, anyway? No, it had to be the work of a demon.

'I think it could be some sort of David Copperfield trick,' said Eric.

'Eric, I need to know something and it is important that you tell me,' said Paige. 'Did the woman see you?'

Eric shook his head. 'No, but I am going to go and find her. I have a name and an address.'

'The demon has a name and an address?' thought Paige. 'That could mean that the demon is organised and trying to hide amongst human society. The demon could be dangerous.'

'Wait!' said Paige. Paige went to follow Eric, but he stopped her.

'Paige, I need you to stay here and research. Try and find evidence of strange occurrences in San Francisco,' said Eric.

Eric left the room.

Paige sighed. She did not need to do research to name any strange occurrences that had happened in San Francisco over the past few months. She and her sisters had been at the centre of them all… Her sisters? She should ring them and tell them there was a demon on the loose!

Paige picked up her phone and dialled the manor.

'Hello?' said Piper, who had picked up the phone.

'Piper!' said Paige. 'A demon attacked in the park today.'

'We know,' said Piper. 'We have been looking it up in the Book of Shadows.'

'Did you identify it?' asked Paige.

'No, sorry,' said Piper. 'How do you know about the demon?'

'My boss witnessed it attack,' said Paige. 'My boss has just gone to find the demon and confront it. I think he could be my innocent.'

'Really? We thought our innocent was the child that the demon took,' said Piper. 'The demon took David.'

'Dee's kid?' said Paige in shock.

'Yes,' said Piper.

'Okay, well it looks like we have quite a few innocents here,' said Paige. 'Can you bring the Book here so as I can try and research the demon?'

'No!' said Piper. 'No Halliwell will ever take the Book out of the manor because we know it is too dangerous. What if a demon got it? Or could you imagine if Phoebe lost it?'

'Hey!' Paige heard Phoebe shout. She was obviously in the same room as Piper.

'Piper, I cannot leave work,' said Paige. 'And it is important. I cannot let an unknown demon kill my boss!'

'Paige, if you want to research the Book, come to the manor,' said Piper.

Paige sighed. 'Okay. Bye.'

'Bye,' said Piper. The phone call ended.

Paige called a taxi and within twenty minutes she was walking into Halliwell manor. 'I wish I could orb,' Paige mumbled to herself as she wandered up the stairs towards the attic.

Piper smiled when she saw Paige enter the attic.

'You can take over looking through the Book,' said Piper. 'I will be downstairs making lunch.'

'I won't be staying for lunch,' said Paige. 'Is Phoebe in?'

'No, she left to speak to someone who was affected by these same demons twenty years ago,' said Piper. 'You are not going to be looking through the Book for long then?'

Paige sighed. 'I have to get back to work soon before my boss gets back.'

Piper nodded. She left the attic.

Paige picked the heavy Book up. She thought her strategy through. Piper had said that a Halliwell would never take the Book out of the manor. Well, Paige was not going to abide by that Halliwell law. She was technically not a Halliwell by name. Therefore, she was allowed to take the Book out of the manor. The question was: How was she going to sneak the Book out without Piper noticing? The attic window!

Paige opened the attic window and threw the Book out of it. The Book landed on the grass and it was still in one piece. Paige smiled at her own genius. She left the attic and when she got to the foyer, Piper came out of the kitchen.

'Find anything?' asked Piper.

'Nope,' said Paige. 'Sorry.'

'That is okay,' said Piper. 'Hopefully Phoebe can get more information on the demon which will help us to identify it.'

'Piper, can I borrow your car, please?' asked Paige. She could not exactly take the Book of Shadows on a bus or in a taxi.

Piper smiled. 'Sure.'

'Thank you,' said Paige. 'Bye.'

'Bye,' said Piper.

Paige left the manor, picked up the Book, and got into Piper's car. She drove back to Eric's office.

* * *

When Paige entered the office, Eric was sitting at his desk.

'Where did you go?' asked Eric. Then he spotted the Book of Shadows in Paige's hands. 'What's that?'

'Oh, this?' said Paige. 'Er, it is just a book. I went to the, er, library. I thought I would try to find books relating to magic to aid my research.'

Eric nodded.

'What happened when you confronted the de – person?' asked Paige.

'She got angry and denied everything,' laughed Eric.

'Eric, you should not taunt someone like that,' warned Paige, worried for his safety.

Eric laughed. 'Why? I am trying to get my story. I gave her a choice. She could be the hero or the villain in my story, but she obviously chose villain.'

'I doubt she would mind being named the villain, considering she is a demon,' thought Paige.

Paige sat down at an empty desk and started looking through the Book of Shadows. She was looking for a female demon that had the power of telekinesis channelled through her hands. Paige found a page about the Halliwell's ancestor, Brianna, who had the ability to channel her telekinesis through her hands, but Paige knew she was looking for a demon, not a witch.

Paige finally found something about a demon with the ability to channel telekinesis through their hands:

'_Rebecca. She has the ability to channel her power of telekinesis through her hands. She refuses to return to the underworld. Instead, she lives amongst humans on the surface world, pretending to be one of them. She uses this disguise to her advantage when she sets her eyes on a target._'

Paige sighed. Rebecca's target had obviously been David. What if she decided to go after Eric now that he had confronted her? Paige looked down at the page again to see if there was a vanquishing spell or potion.

'_The only way to vanquish Rebecca is with a Power of Three spell, accompanied by a potion made up of the following ingredients…_'

Paige sighed. She needed two of her sisters to help her vanquish Rebecca.

Eric stood up from his desk. 'Paige, I am going to be out for the rest of the day. Go home when you want, but make sure to call me if you find anything important out.'

'Where are you going?' asked Paige.

'To monitor that woman's house,' said Eric.

'No!' said Paige. In a panic, Paige blurted out, 'You can't! She will kill you!'

'Excuse me?' said Eric.

Paige sighed. She knew that sometimes when her sisters had innocents, they would tell them the truth about being witches so as they could concentrate on saving the innocent and not on concealing their secret. Therefore, it was Paige's rite of passage to tell Eric this now.

'Eric, you cannot go, because that woman is a demon,' said Paige. 'I know that, because… because I am a witch.'

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, if you have seen the canon version of this season one episode, you should have noticed that there is a huge identity mix up going on here. If you have not seen the canon version, then the mix up should be revealed in the next chapter. Please review.


	49. OutOfSight (And Unintentional Actions)

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews! Yeah, Paige is stubborn and quite foolish, hence the end of last chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Forty Nine: Out Of Sight (And Unintentional Actions)**

'I know that, because… because I am a witch,' said Paige.

Eric stared at Paige.

'Okay, if I had not witnessed what I witnessed earlier this morning, I would never have believed that witches and demons existed…' said Eric.

'So you believe me?' said Paige, hoping not to have to try and convince him.

'Yes,' said Eric slowly.

'Good,' said Paige. 'You cannot go to that house. You stay here. My sisters and I are witches. We deal with demons on a daily basis. I can go home, get my sisters, and we will vanquish that demon.'

'So you vanquish demons daily?' asked Eric.

'Yes, well not every day. Just whenever they turn up,' explained Paige.

'So you and your sisters are like super witches?' said Eric.

Paige shrugged. 'You could say that.'

'I don't think I can believe you are a witch until I see your powers,' said Eric.

Paige sighed. She closed her eyes and thought, 'Do you believe me now?'

Eric jumped in surprise at hearing Paige's voice inside his head.

Paige opened her eyes. 'Cool, huh? It is telepathy.'

'So you can read my mind too?' asked Eric.

'Yes, but only if I wanted to,' said Paige.

Eric relaxed a little. 'Paige, I want to come with you when you go to vanquish this demon. I can film it. I can make a story out of it. Newspapers will sell. I can see the headline already: _Magic and Monsters on San Francisco Bay_.'

'No, no, you can't come with me,' said Paige.

'Why not? If you and your sisters are there, I should be safe,' said Eric.

'Yes, but I cannot let you film us or write about us in the newspaper,' said Paige. 'If our secret gets out, magic will be exposed, and we might not be able to do what we do.'

Before Eric could reply, Paige had left the office with the Book.

* * *

Paige arrived at Prescott Street and walked up the steps to the manor door. Paige did not have a chance to get her keys out of her bag before the door opened.

Piper had opened the door. She did not look happy. She took the Book of Shadows from Paige and went to sit on the staircase.

Paige slowly walked in and shut the door behind her. She hung her coat up and then waited for Piper to say something. Piper was flicking through the Book of Shadows.

'Piper, I know what the vanquishing spell for this demon is,' said Paige.

Piper stopped looking through the Book and looked up at Paige.

'Paige, I told you that this Book does not leave the house,' said Piper. 'You did not even try to conceal it when you were outdoors!'

'Piper, I am sorry, but I needed it,' said Paige.

Piper continued looking through the Book.

'Piper, I told you I have found the vanquishing spell,' said Paige. 'It is a Power of Three spell.'

'Well, Phoebe has gotten more information on the demon, and I wanted to have a read,' said Piper in a strop. 'Is that okay with you?'

Paige sighed. She left Piper to look through the Book on the staircase and continued through into the kitchen.

Phoebe was sitting at the kitchen table eating a sandwich.

'Hey Pheebs,' said Paige. 'Piper's mad at me.'

'Paige, how could you take the Book out of the house?' said Phoebe. There was disappointment in her tone, but no sign of anger.

'Pheebs, I needed to,' said Paige.

Phoebe nodded slowly. 'So does Piper have the Book now?'

Paige nodded.

Phoebe put her sandwich down and got up to leave the kitchen.

'I already know the vanquishing sp –' Before Paige had a chance to finish what she had been saying, Phoebe had already ran out of the kitchen towards the foyer to join Piper on the staircase.

Paige suddenly saw a blue glow from outside in the back garden, as if someone had just orbed there. Paige stood up and left the kitchen, walking into the back garden. She stopped when she saw Leo.

'Hi…' said Paige. She had not seen Leo since he had yelled at her about the dark lighter dating business. Paige was not sure whether Leo had forgiven her yet.

'Hey Paige,' said Leo nonchalantly. 'How are things?'

Paige relaxed a little. If Leo was deciding not to bring up the dark lighter dating topic then neither would she.

'The usual: Demon hunting, and – actually, I do have some news. I have a job,' said Paige.

Leo smiled.

'You have a job? Well done, Paige. Is it something you have always wanted to do?' said Leo.

Paige shook her head. 'It is only a job to get some money in. Those dark lighters really cleaned my funds out.'

Paige grimaced when she realised she had brought up something that she had not wanted to.

Leo frowned and let out a sigh. 'You know I still don't know where you stand in all that.'

'What do you mean?' asked Paige.

'You told me you wanted to help Daisy, to do more of the sort of thing that I do,' said Leo. 'Yet you then decided to go against my orders and put Daisy in danger.'

Paige was taken aback at what Leo had said.

'Did you just say orders? You did not order me to do anything! You of all people should know that I do not follow orders!' said Paige.

'Maybe I did not order you to do anything, but I explicitly told you your role for the two days you were in L.A.!' said Leo.

'Yes you did, but when Alec showed up and you did not, I had to improvise!' said Paige.

'You think that the only way you could improvise was by going on a double date?' said Leo.

Paige put her head in her hands. 'I don't want to argue over this. I am not in the wrong for what I did.'

'I never said you were,' said Leo. 'All I mean to say is that I am disappointed with you.'

Paige looked up from her hands. 'That seems to be a running theme today…'

'What do you mean?' asked Leo.

Paige sighed. 'I think they are disappointed in me too.'

Leo looked at Paige directly. 'The Halliwell sisters?'

Paige nodded. 'I took the Book without asking.'

'Paige, you should not have done that. The Book of Shadows is theirs to protect. It has always been in their family. It is not something that you can just decide to go and use yourself,' said Leo. 'Don't worry though, because you will be able to put it right. I know you well enough to know that you can do that.'

Paige nodded, and then said, 'Do you think I can make things right between us two? How long do you think you will be disappointed in me?'

Leo did not reply. He frowned. Paige looked Leo in the eyes. Then due to his silence, Paige decided to close her eyes and listen to Leo's thoughts.

'Paige, I know what you are doing,' thought Leo. 'Please stay out of my head.'

'Please, tell me how long it will be before you forgive me,' said Paige. Her eyes were still shut and she was still listening for a reply from Leo, whether he decided to say it out loud or think it.

Paige heard Leo let out a sigh. Paige opened her eyes. Leo was shaking his head. Leo took Paige's hand and orbed her out of the back garden. They reappeared in Daisy's apartment.

Daisy jumped. 'Leo! I did not know you were coming.' Then she saw Paige, and said, 'Paige! How are you?'

Paige did not smile. She turned straight back to Leo.

'Why did you bring me here?' Paige asked.

'I didn't…' said Leo, looking slightly confused.

'Yes you did,' said Paige. 'You are the only one out of the two of us who can orb.'

Leo nodded slowly. 'I must have orbed here unintentionally… I have never done that before…'

'Well, while we are here, we may as well ask Daisy for her opinion in our discussion,' said Paige, turning to Daisy.

'Your discussion?' said Daisy.

'Yes, our discussion,' said Paige. 'Do you think I was in the wrong for allowing you to go on a date with Alec?'

Daisy went pale. Paige could tell from her face that Daisy did not want to get into the middle of this debate. Paige suddenly felt extremely guilty for having done exactly that.

Leo had also noticed Daisy's expression, as he said, 'Paige, let's leave. Daisy, I am so sorry for barging in on you like this. Call me if you get into any trouble.'

Daisy nodded slowly.

Leo took Paige's hand and orbed her back to the manor's back garden.

'Paige, you should not just say things like that!' Leo said to Paige.

'Don't shout at me,' said Paige. 'I know I should not have upset her. I did not mean to… I just… I acted on impulse… We were there, we had just been discussing it… so I automatically thought that we may as well ask for her opinion…'

Leo shook his head. 'Paige, Daisy has been through a lot! She does not need to get into the middle of a family argument!'

'Family argument? _Family argument_?' said Paige. 'Are you getting personal work mixed with professional work now? I thought we had to act more like work colleagues around charges, and not like father and daughter? So how can you call this a family argument? Can you not keep this sort of thing separate?'

Leo frowned. 'Paige. Look, I always thought I taught you well. I thought you knew how important my work was. Even just now when you spoke so rashly to Daisy… Since when do you do that? You seem to have changed so much since you started working with the Halliwells…'

Paige was beginning to tear up a little.

'Are you trying to say that you do not like what I have become?' Paige managed to say quietly.

Leo orbed out. Paige was about to yell for him to come back when she heard Piper call for her from the kitchen. Leo had orbed out because he must have sensed Piper approaching. He was off the hook for that, but not for what he had said to Paige. That had stung.

Paige slowly walked back into the kitchen.

'What were you doing in the back garden?' Piper asked.

Piper suddenly saw Paige's face.

'Paige! Have you been crying? Your eyes are puffy,' said Piper in a concerned tone.

Paige hesitated before saying quietly, 'I am fine…'

'Is it because I moaned at you about the Book?' asked Piper.

Paige shook her head. 'Don't worry. I should never have taken the Book.'

'Paige, you have every right to look at it. You are one of us,' said Piper softly. 'What I was mad at was that you went against my orders and took it out of the manor.'

There was those three words again: _against my orders_. Why did everyone keep saying that to her today?

'Piper, I am sorry, okay?' said Paige.

'Paige, are you okay?' asked Piper with concern and worry.

'Where are Prue and Phoebe?' asked Paige, ignoring Piper's question.

'Phoebe has gone to see one of the demon's past victims again, and Prue has gone to find an ingredient we need for the vanquishing potion,' said Piper. 'I need to go and speak to Josh as he may have a map of the storm drains for us.'

'Storm drains?' said Paige.

'That is where we think the demons are based,' said Piper. 'Can you stay here and help Prue or Phoebe when either of them gets back?'

Paige nodded. 'Bye.'

'Bye,' said Piper.

Piper left the kitchen and Paige soon heard the front door open and close.

Paige went to the living room where her sisters had left the Book of Shadows. It was shut so Paige flicked through the Book to find the page about the demon Rebecca.

Paige frowned. On reading the list of ingredients for the vanquishing potion, Paige noticed that they definitely did have everything they needed at the manor.

Paige took the Book with her into the kitchen and started to whip up a vanquishing potion. Although she did manage to set off the fire alarm twice during the process, Paige did successfully manage to make up the potion.

Smiling, Paige bottled the potion in a small glass vial. All she needed to do now was get two of her sisters to come with her to find Rebecca, and then say the Power of Three spell.

That is when Paige remembered Piper mentioning that the demon was located in the storm drains. This was another inconsistency with what the Book had said. Where were Prue, Piper, and Phoebe getting their facts from?

* * *

Paige walked into the living room with the vial in her hand. She was trying to figure out a way to locate Rebecca. Why would her sisters think she would be found in a storm drain?

Through the living room window, Paige noticed Prue and Piper's cars parked on the drive. Paige went into the foyer and opened the front door. Prue and Piper were talking on the porch.

Prue and Piper stopped talking and turned to Paige.

'Hi Paige,' said Prue. Then she noticed the vial in Paige's hand, and said, 'What's with the potion?'

'Piper was wrong. We were not out of ingredients,' said Paige. 'I whipped up the vanquishing potion and now we can go and use it on the demon.'

'I know my kitchen, and I know for sure that we were short by one ingredient for that vanquishing potion,' said Piper, slightly offended.

'So I went across town to get Schisandra root for nothing?' said Prue.

'We definitely did not have any,' said Piper.

'Schisandra root?' said Paige. 'The vanquishing potion never mentioned Schisandra root.'

'Paige, what are you on about? Schisandra root is a key ingredient to the –' Piper stopped talking.

Prue and Paige followed Piper's gaze to see why she had stopped. A pram was rolling from a neighbour's driveway onto the street. A truck was going to hit it. Piper threw out her arms and froze the street just in time.

'That was close,' said Paige.

The three of them ran down to the middle of the road to the pram.

'Where is the mother?' asked Prue.

Then they noticed that the pram was empty. Piper was relieved. Prue and Paige were suspicious.

'Wait a second, since when did the Johnsons even have a baby?' asked Prue.

Prue and Paige spotted Eric hiding in the bushes with a video camera at the same time.

'He must have followed me home from work!' Prue and Paige said in unison.

'What did you say?' Prue and Paige asked each other at the same time.

'I said that the reporter over there followed me home from work!' Prue and Paige replied to each other in unison.

'Can you two please stop saying the same thing and explain to me who that is and why he is trying to expose us?' said Piper.

'That is Lohman. This is a set up,' said Prue to Piper. Then Prue turned to Paige, and said, 'What do you mean he followed you home from work? He followed me home from work.'

'I don't know how long my freeze is going to last,' mentioned Piper before Paige could respond.

'Oh, right,' said Prue. 'Let's go back to exactly where we were standing before everything froze and then unfreeze it and go back inside.'

Piper and Paige agreed. The three of them returned to the porch. Piper held up her hands and the street unfroze.

The three of them entered the manor.

Once in the living room, Prue repeated her question to Paige. 'Why do you think he followed you home from work?'

'That reporter, Eric Lohman, is my boss,' said Paige. 'Piper, I told you that my boss witnessed a demon attack. Well, I had to tell him that I was a witch and that I was going to help him by getting my sisters to help me vanquish the demon. I told him not to follow me back here, but he must have done, which means he must have been out there for a while.'

'Paige, what are you saying? You told him we were witches? How stupid are you?' said Prue. 'That reporter saw me use magic when a Grimlock kidnapped David. Eric confronted me at work this morning, and then again this afternoon at work. I keep denying the existence of magic! What is worse is to find that you have basically told him that magic does exist! Besides he must have followed me back from work.'

'What?' said Paige, ignoring the part where Prue had told her off for giving away the secret. 'Hang on, Grimlocks don't have telekinesis, and your powers are channelled through your eyes… So who was Eric on about if my demon is not involved in all of this?'

'Paige, Prue had a power advancement today,' said Piper.

Paige went pale. 'You can channel your telekinesis through your hands?'

Prue nodded. Prue and Piper's eyes flicked to the vial in Paige's hand.

'So technically the demon you were attempting to vanquish was… me?' said Prue.

Paige laughed nervously. 'Well, not you… Just a demon with similar powers to you… Except it turned out to be you that I had mistaken for the demon… It is not like this vanquishing potion would have had an effect on you – you are not the demon it was intended for.'

'I cannot believe you heard a description of me and automatically thought demon,' said Prue.

'Prue, I –' Paige stopped when she saw Prue smiling.

'Paige, I am not mad,' said Prue. 'You were following your instincts and trying to act fast. All I ask is that next time you think you know who the demon we are after is, please consult with the three of us first.'

'I tried to,' said Paige.

'Well, next time, let's mention the names of the demons,' said Piper, laughing.

* * *

**A/N:** Just to let you know, the reason why Leo said he had not intentionally orbed was because he had not orbed at all. Paige subconsciously orbed them to Daisy's apartment, because she subconsciously wanted to involve Daisy in the conversation. However, because neither know Paige is part white lighter, they both think that Leo had accidentally orbed them there. Please review!


	50. OutOfSight (AndFollowTheYellowBrickRoad)

**A/N:** _Nck_, I am currently experimenting with Paige's character. I was beginning to think that I had made her too serious. I can see that I may have gone from one extreme to the other here, but that is pointed out and explained in this chapter by the characters. However, over the next few chapters, Paige will be more open to the use of personal gain spells, because I am trying to make a balance between 'smart and resourceful' and 'immature' Paige – otherwise she seems like she should be older than Phoebe. Plus every character has their off day.

Thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Fifty: Out Of Sight (And Follow The Yellow Brick Road)**

'Did you say we are after Grimlocks?' said Paige.

Prue and Piper nodded.

'You have heard of them?' said Prue.

'Yeah, we should get started on that vanquishing potion before they blind anymore innocents,' said Paige seriously.

'Have you read about them in the Book before?' Piper asked as the three of them headed to the kitchen.

Paige shook her head. 'There are some demons which I know by name, especially when they are common in the magical community.'

Prue laughed. 'So are you a walking-talking Book of Shadows?'

'I only know of them,' said Paige. 'I have no idea what the ingredients to the vanquishing potion are. Although I think I can guess that one ingredient is Schisandra root.'

Prue was putting the Schisandra root onto the kitchen counter.

Phoebe came straight into the kitchen when she got back to the manor. Prue, Piper, and Paige told Phoebe about Eric, who was staking them out from his car now. Phoebe explained how she had found the entrance to the storm drain.

* * *

The doorbell rang. Piper and Phoebe remained in the kitchen as they made the vanquishing potion, while Prue and Paige went to the front door. The two of them were expecting it to be Eric, and both of them wanted to confront him.

They opened the door to see Eric standing there, looking smug.

'I was surprised to see you here, Paige,' said Eric.

'What do you mean?' said Paige. 'This is my home.'

'Well, I followed your demon home to find out that you were here too,' said Eric.

'Demon?' said Paige. She and Prue had already discussed that they were going to play dumb just in case he was taping the conversation.

'Yes, demon. You told me that the person I had seen was a demon, and that you and your sisters were witches, and that you would vanquish the demon for me,' said Eric.

'What are you on about?' asked Prue. 'I am not a demon or a witch. Are you insane?'

Eric laughed. 'Prue, are we still debating this? I have been telling you all day that I know your secret.'

'What secret?' said Paige. 'We have no idea what you are talking about.'

'I think my videotape would beg to differ,' said Eric.

'What videotape?' said Prue.

Prue and Eric started debating about whether the videotape of Piper stopping time on their porch existed or not. This debate ended with Prue shutting the door on Eric's face.

'You told him,' laughed Paige.

'Paige, I doubt you have a job anymore,' said Prue.

'Yeah… I was kind of expecting that one as soon as I saw him filming the house,' said Paige.

'Sorry,' said Prue.

'It is not your fault, Prue. You never asked for him to see you use magic,' said Paige. 'I think this job was never meant to be for me. I just wish I could have gotten at least one pay check out of it before losing my job.'

Prue and Paige went into the kitchen. Piper and Phoebe were still working on the potion. Prue told her three younger sisters that she would finish the potion if they went down to the storm drains to start looking for the boys.

'How about getting past my ex-boss?' asked Paige.

'Don't worry, I will deal with him,' said Prue.

Prue went to speak to Eric, to distract him. Eric was facing Prue, so Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were able to sneak past Eric into Piper's car. Piper drove off.

'Okay, so we have Piper's freezing power to stop any Grimlocks, but how are we going to find the boys?' said Phoebe.

'I was hoping one of you two might have thought of something, because at the moment I am drawing a blank on that,' said Piper.

'I think I know the perfect spell,' said Paige.

* * *

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige had entered the storm drain, but Paige had still not told them about the spell she had suggested.

'Paige, we need to know what the spell is,' said Piper.

'I am trying to remember the exact wording to it,' said Paige.

'We will worry about wording later,' said Phoebe. 'We could bump into a Grimlock any minute.'

'Yeah, and Piper will freeze it,' said Paige.

'Yeah, but you said your spell will help us to find the boys,' said Piper.

'I know,' said Paige. 'And it will.'

Piper moaned as she stood in a puddle, and asked Phoebe which way they were supposed to be going in. Phoebe took out her map and looked. Piper turned her torch towards Phoebe so as she could see the map. Phoebe pointed them in the right direction and the three of them continued walking.

'Do you remember the spell wording yet?' Phoebe asked impatiently.

'Shush,' said Paige. 'We need to be quiet. We don't want Grimlocks to hear us.'

'If they hear us, I can freeze them,' said Piper. 'What is the spell, Paige?'

Paige did not reply.

'Paige, why are you procrastinating? Tell us!' said Phoebe.

'I don't know whether using this spell is the right call or not!' shouted Paige at no one in particular.

'Paige?' said Piper worriedly. 'Paige, what's wrong? You have always trusted your instincts, or at least that is one of the things you have always done since we met you.'

Paige sighed. 'Ever since I messed up on the case I helped my white lighter friend with…'

'Paige, you did not mess up…' said Phoebe. 'I don't know the specifics, but I know that you were adamant that you were in the right.'

Paige sighed again. 'Pheebs, maybe I was wrong. Maybe my judgement has been wrong this whole time…'

'What do you mean, Paige?' said Piper. 'Your instincts, your judgment, your impulses are always helpful.'

Paige looked at Piper. Paige's eyes were watery.

'Are they, Piper?' said Paige rhetorically. 'Just look at where my instincts, my judgement, my impulses… Just look at where they have led me recently… First I mess up my white lighter friend's plan… Then I hear a description of my eldest sister and my instincts tell me that she is a demon… Then I follow an impulse and take the Book of Shadows out of the manor, despite you telling me not to… Then I decide to blurt out to some rancid reporter that I am a witch… In what way would you call any of that helpful?'

'Paige… You are just having an off day…' said Piper.

'The white lighter complication happened last week! That is one blimming long day, Piper!' said Paige.

'Paige,' said Phoebe. Paige turned to look at Phoebe. 'Paige, you are letting that primary issue cloud your insight. You obviously feel guilty about that, but don't let it impact you so negatively. Follow your instincts. Tell us that spell…'

Phoebe trailed off. She was looking at the tunnel wall behind Paige. Piper and Paige turned to look at where Phoebe was staring.

'That sign! That sign was in my vision!' said Phoebe.

'Does that mean we are going in the right direction?' Paige asked.

Phoebe nodded, smiling. The smile disappeared when a rat ran past. Piper and Paige repeated Phoebe's expression as the rat went past them.

'Ew,' said Piper and Phoebe.

'This place is disgusting,' said Paige.

'It is a storm drain,' said Phoebe. 'What did you expect? A five star hotel?'

* * *

They carried on walking. There was a sudden crash as Piper fell into a big hole. Phoebe and Paige leant over where Piper had fallen into.

'Piper! Are you okay?' shouted Phoebe.

'Piper!' shouted Paige. 'Piper!'

'I think she is unconscious,' said Phoebe. 'Stay here with Piper. I need to go and call Prue.'

Paige nodded. Phoebe left the tunnel. Paige sat down next to the hole.

'Ew,' said Paige, realising that the floor she had sat down on was extremely damp.

'Leo…' Piper mumbled.

Paige frowned. Piper was unconscious, but was obviously dreaming of Leo. Wasn't Piper dating Josh at the moment? If only Piper knew Leo's secret, then she would know why she could never be with Leo. Paige did not want Piper to get her heart broken if Leo did decide to come back into the Halliwells' lives.

Paige tried to take her mind off of that. She began to think about the spell she was supposed to be using to help find the boys. It was a spell that she had learnt in magic school. Paige had never been a student at magic school, but Isobel and Wilson had been. Once or twice, when Leo had dropped Paige off with the Strattons, she had tagged along with the twins to magic school. On one of the days, Paige had accompanied the twins to an advanced class about demonic defence. The spell that was being taught that day had been a spell that allowed the caster to see an aura trail. However, could Paige trust her instincts? Would this be a helpful spell? Or would it just cause unnecessary hindrances considering Phoebe already knew that they were going in the right direction?

Paige knew that the Grimlocks could see a person's aura, but this spell would allow her sisters and her to find people, by following the scent of their aura. Therefore, maybe this was a good thing? Paige buried her head in her knees. She hated how lost she felt. She never realised before now how much she had depended on Leo to make her believe in herself.

Paige felt herself be thrown across the tunnel into the wall. She stood up in pain and saw a Grimlock staring at her. Paige began to feel herself choking. The Grimlock was strangling her with her own good aura.

Paige could hear footsteps, and then she heard Phoebe shout 'Prue!' Paige saw a metal pipe go flying at the Grimlock. It hit the Grimlock and the Grimlock ran away. Paige felt the choking sensation leave her. She fell to the ground as she tried to catch her breath.

Prue ran over to Paige to help her up, while Phoebe approached the hole that Piper had fallen into.

'Paige, are you okay?' Prue asked Paige.

Paige nodded slowly. 'We need to focus on helping Piper.'

Prue and Paige joined Phoebe by the hole. Prue used her telekinesis to lift Piper out of the hole. Once Piper was on her feet, Prue tried to persuade Piper that they would take her to the safety of the street before continuing without her to find the boys. Phoebe agreed with Prue, but Paige disagreed.

'Paige? Piper needs to get out of here for safety,' said Prue.

'No I don't, I will be fine,' said Piper.

'Plus we don't have time to leave the tunnel,' said Paige. 'Or we might be too late.'

Phoebe smiled, and referencing their earlier conversation, she said, 'You know what. I agree with Paige. I trust her instinct.'

'Then what do you suggest?' said Prue. 'Traipse the tunnel looking for the Grimlocks' lair with Piper following us injured?'

'No,' said Paige, slowly finding her courage returning. Maybe she could trust her own instincts. Maybe she could finally have a good idea… 'I suggest casting a spell that will lead us directly to the boys and the Grimlocks, vanquish the Grimlocks, save the boys, and then get out of here.'

'I agree with Paige,' said Piper.

Prue nodded slowly.

'Do we get to hear this spell now then?' asked Phoebe excitedly.

Paige nodded. 'When I cast this spell, we will be able to see a golden or yellowy path, which should lead us directly to any pure hearted people in this tunnel, such as the boys. We will also be able to see a dark path, which would probably belong to the auras of the Grimlocks.'

'Okay,' said Prue. 'Nice plan. Tell us the words and the four of us can cast it.'

'Only one of us needs to say it for it to work. You are close enough for the spell to affect you as well,' said Paige, and then she began to recite the spell:

'_Auras we seek,_

_Although this environment is bleak._

_Please show us the way,_

_For the next half a day._'

All of a sudden, Paige could see many dark paths littering the ground. However, she also noticed five shimmering golden paths. Four of them led to her and her sisters. One of them led down the tunnel.

'Shall we follow it?' said Prue.

Piper, Phoebe and Paige nodded.

'Follow the yellow brick road,' laughed Phoebe.

The four of them began to follow the fifth shimmering golden path. Phoebe and Paige were supporting Piper, while Prue led the way.

Prue came to a stop. So did Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. The shimmering golden path split into two. One path went to the left, the other to the right as the tunnel separated into two.

'So which way do we go?' asked Piper.

Phoebe pulled out her map. Pointing to the right, she said, 'That way will only take us back to the street.'

'We will split up then. Good thing I brought more than one vial of vanquishing potion,' said Prue. Prue handed Phoebe a vial. 'I will go to the right with Piper. It means that Piper can get out onto the street while I find the lair, if the lair is in that direction.'

'Paige and I will go left,' said Phoebe.

Prue nodded. 'Good luck.'

Prue and Piper went down the tunnel to the right, while Phoebe and Paige went to the left.

'Why do you think the golden path split into two?' Paige asked Phoebe. 'Do you think they split up the kids?'

Phoebe shook her head. 'When I met Prue outside, she had brought that reporter with. She told him to stay outside, but I guess he came in anyway.'

Paige sighed. 'I am never going to work for a reporter again.'

Suddenly, they heard a little boy yelling for help.

'David!' shouted Phoebe.

Phoebe and Paige broke into a run. They came to a stop when they saw the cage that David and another boy were in.

Phoebe and Paige approached the bars.

'There must be a way to open this,' said Phoebe.

Paige remained by the bars while Phoebe wandered further into the lair looking for something to open the cage with.

Paige suddenly felt a familiar sensation of choking. She turned around to see a Grimlock standing at the entrance to the lair. He was snarling at her as he choked her with her aura. Paige fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

Phoebe came running up to the Grimlock and hit him with a crowbar before throwing the potion at him. The Grimlock screamed in pain as he melted away.

Phoebe helped Paige to her feet.

'Thanks,' said Paige quietly.

Phoebe smiled and then turned to the cage. With the crowbar that she had found in the lair, Phoebe bent the bars on the cage.

David was smiling at Phoebe and Paige.

'I can see!' David said.

Prue came running into the lair. She stopped when she saw David and the other boy standing safely next to Phoebe and Paige.

'Are the boys safe?' asked Prue.

Phoebe and Paige nodded.

'Good. I vanquished a Grimlock out there just now,' said Prue.

'We vanquished one in here too,' said Phoebe. 'I think that is all of them gone now.'

'At least that is one problem out of the way,' said Prue.

'There is another problem?' said Phoebe.

'Yeah, the fact that my ex-boss knows our secret,' said Paige.

'No, your boss was killed by a Grimlock. That is not the other problem I was referring to,' said Prue.

'What is it?' asked Paige.

'Andy had also followed me here. I had to use my telekinesis to save him from a Grimlock,' said Prue.

'Are you trying to tell me that Andy...?' began Phoebe.

Prue nodded. 'Andy knows.'

* * *

**A/N:** This is not really a cliff hanger ending. The next chapter will start with the next episode in season one. I did not want to write anymore to this one, because the next scene would be the police station, which would be exactly the same as the canon, except with Paige present. Also, I realise that they do not seem too shocked at Eric's death, but they never made much of a thing about it in the canon either. Please review!


	51. The Power of Two (Plus One)

**A/N:** _Lizardmomma_: No offense taken. In my opinion the canon episode is not the best of season one, but I would not rate it as one of the worst either. It is a good episode but not one I would necessarily point out as a highlight of the season – that is except for the Andy finding out factor.

_Charmedfan02_: Thanks. I found it hard to actually come up with a way of fitting Paige into that episode, so I did not enjoy writing that one as much. Glad to know you liked it though.

_WWWSTG_: Thank you. :)

_Yugiohobsessed_: That point completely slipped my mind. I wonder when he will find that out.

_CharmedOpal_: You have been waiting for _The Power of Two_ for a long time? How come? I always used to find this particular episode quite boring.

I actually had the title for this specific chapter thought up before I even started writing this fan fiction, because as Paige is there, Piper has not left them with the Power of Two for this episode. Also, I cannot remember who or when, but someone ages ago, reviewed asking about whether Paige would start being slightly immature with magic and using it for personal gain. Why have I brought that up now? Read on, and you will find out…

* * *

**Chapter Fifty One: The Power of Two (Plus One)**

It had been a week since Paige had last spoken to Leo. They had not ended their last talk on good terms, because they had been unable to end it as Leo had had to orb out when he had sensed Piper approaching. Paige had been hoping for Leo to turn up all week.

Paige wanted to talk to him, she wanted to moan at him for telling her that she had changed. She had not changed. Had he meant that she had changed for the worse? This thought kept her up each night.

Phoebe and Paige were sitting in the foyer. Paige was trying to teach Phoebe how to meditate properly. Phoebe was hoping that meditation would help her to be able to call for premonitions when she needed them.

Prue and Piper suddenly interrupted them in an attempt to find Piper's plane ticket. Piper was about to leave for Hawaii for a work convention. Phoebe had the plane ticket, and also a premonition that Piper was going to be late. Prue took the ticket from Phoebe and headed for the door with Piper. Phoebe and Paige followed them to the door to say goodbye. Piper stopped at the door and turned back to them.

'What happens if there is demon stuff? The Power of Three?' Piper asked.

'Relax, Piper. As long as Paige is here with us, we will still have the Power of Three,' said Phoebe.

'Yeah, but… Paige does not have my power…' Piper said hesitantly.

'Piper, I think we can last one week without the power to freeze,' said Prue.

'We will be fine, Piper,' said Paige.

'Okay, we really need to go if we are going to get you to that plane on time,' said Prue. Prue then turned to Phoebe and Paige. 'Do you two still have my list?'

Paige rolled her eyes and pulled the list out of her pocket. 'Your list of chores for the unemployed?'

Phoebe laughed and read the list over Paige's shoulder. 'Dry cleaning, call the cable guy, weed killer, light bulbs, restock the fridge, restock the cupboards, go to China Town for potion ingredients… Looks like we are not going to have any time to practice controlling my premonitions.'

Paige laughed. 'I don't think this household would manage without two unemployed sisters with the time to run these errands.'

'Okay, good,' Prue said, ignoring their sarcasm.

Prue and Piper left the manor in a hurry. Phoebe and Paige thought it was pointless to continue meditating, and could not be bothered to start on the list of chores yet, so settled down to watch television.

A little while later the phone rang.

'Paige, answer that,' said Phoebe.

'Er, no,' said Paige resolutely.

Phoebe sighed. She went over to the phone and answered it. When Phoebe came back into the living room, she was hesitant.

'Paige, would you mind… if I… left the chores up to you?' said Phoebe.

'What? Why?' asked Paige.

'That was Marianne on the phone. I have plans for today to go to Alcatraz with her,' said Phoebe. 'Please, Paige, do the errands, but don't tell Prue that I did not help.'

Paige sighed. 'Fine, but you owe me.'

Phoebe smiled. 'Thank you!'

* * *

Once Phoebe had left, Paige started looking through the list of chores and errands. It was long.

Paige really could not be bothered to do all this. She had an idea. She went up to the attic, opened the Book of Shadows, and started looking for some sort of spell. This was probably going to count as personal gain, but Paige had not yet used her magic irresponsibly since finding out that she was a witch. Therefore, one time would not hurt, would it?

Paige looked up to see Leo orb into the attic.

'Paige, why are you looking through the Book?' asked Leo.

'You don't say hello to me anymore?' said Paige bluntly.

'Hi Paige. Why are you looking through the Book?' asked Leo.

'Adding to my knowledge on demons in case the sisters need the information quickly,' lied Paige.

'So there are no demons attacking in San Francisco at the moment?' asked Leo.

'No, it has been quiet recently,' said Paige.

'So that means you can come with me,' said Leo.

'Where? Are the Elders finally ready to punish me for not telling them I am a witch?' asked Paige.

'No. That time has not come yet,' said Leo.

'Then where do you want me to go?' asked Paige curiously.

'Last week, I used my powers to cloak Daisy so as Alec could not find her,' started Leo.

Paige sighed. 'You want me to go and talk to Daisy?' Then she added sarcastically, 'Do you really trust me to do such a task?'

'Paige, look, I am sorry for getting mad at you about that. You were just following your instincts,' said Leo.

'You don't get it,' mumbled Paige.

'Look, Paige, we don't have time to argue,' said Leo. 'Daisy could be in trouble.'

'You said you have cloaked her. She is safe,' said Paige.

'No. I wanted to relocate her to San Francisco, so as she could be closer to the Charmed Ones – and possibly safer – but she has run away,' said Leo. 'She is not in L.A. anymore.'

'Surely you can sense her,' said Paige.

'I can,' said Leo. 'She is on a plane at the moment. I don't know where it is going, and I cannot just orb onto a plane. I have to wait for her to land before I go after her.'

'Why do you want me to come with?' asked Paige.

'You can help me talk some sense into her,' said Leo. 'She won't listen to me.'

'I won't listen to you either,' said Paige bitterly. 'I am not coming with you.'

'Paige,' said Leo. 'I have apologised.'

'Not for the one thing that stung,' said Paige. 'Besides, Piper is away. Prue and Phoebe need me to look out for them now more than ever.' Obviously Paige was not going to tell Leo that she was able to reconstitute the Power of Three in Piper's absence.

Leo sighed. 'If you change your mind… Call me.'

Leo orbed out.

Paige had wanted to moan at him about the 'you have changed' comment, but the fact that he did not even address that issue annoyed her so much that she did not want to be the one to bring it up herself.

Paige continued to look through the Book of Shadows. She stopped on a page when she found a spell that might be useful to complete the errands list magically.

Paige found a candle and lit it. Then she held the errands list out in front of her as she recited the spell:

'_Complete these tasks,_

_Of which I have been asked._

_Through the list one by one,_

_Until each is done._'

Paige burnt the list in the flame of the lit candle, and then dropped the burning piece of paper into a silver dish. Paige blew out the candle and shut the Book of Shadows.

The door of the attic burst open. Phoebe had entered the attic.

'You are home?' said Paige, looking at her watch. 'You have only been gone for a couple of hours.'

Phoebe had gone straight to the Book of Shadows and was flicking through it.

'Yeah, well something happened at the old prison,' said Phoebe.

'What? What happened?' asked Paige.

'There were two ghosts, or maybe just one… And the other was something else…' began Phoebe.

'Phoebe, you are babbling,' said Paige.

'Sorry. What I mean is: A ghost-like figure killed the tour guide, and then another ghost stepped into the dead tour guide's body, and I am pretty sure that ghost has now made his way onto the mainland,' said Phoebe.

'Do you think you will find something in the Book?' asked Paige.

'I don't think the Book will have any specific information about this particular guy, but it might have some information on ghosts,' said Phoebe. 'I am going to do some research on the computer about the ghost of Alcatraz in a few minutes.'

'Okay,' said Paige.

'I also came up here looking for you,' said Phoebe. 'I needed to discuss what happened.'

'Well, have you phoned Prue yet?' asked Paige.

Phoebe made a face. She stopped looking through the Book and looked at Paige. 'Do I have to?'

'Phoebe, she needs to know,' said Paige. 'She may even be able to help. She knows old timey things, maybe she knows about Alcatraz.'

'Yeah, but if I talk to her about it, she will know I ditched the chores,' said Phoebe.

'Look, Pheebs, the chores are all sorted now,' said Paige. 'Plus I know you. You can work around the truth by not telling her all of it.'

'You are right,' smiled Phoebe. 'She does not have to know I was there. Thanks, Paige. Oh and thanks for sorting out the chores so quickly.'

'No problem,' said Paige. Phoebe left the attic.

Paige decided to search through the Book of Shadows for general supernatural information on ghosts and creatures that could interact with ghosts. Paige began at the front of the Book. She got out a jotter pad and pen, and began to write anything useful down as she flicked through the Book.

* * *

'Paige!'

Paige had gotten around three quarters of the way through the Book. She had not found too much information on ghosts, but she had written as much down as she had found so far. It was dark outside now and someone had called her name from downstairs.

'Paige!'

Paige rushed downstairs and into the kitchen where her name was being called from.

'Demon?' said Paige as she entered the kitchen.

Phoebe was at the kitchen table with the computer in front of her. Prue was at the fridge. The fridge was open, so full of food that everything was toppling out onto the floor.

'Paige,' said Prue, turning to Paige. 'Did you cast a spell to complete the chores list?'

Paige blushed guiltily. 'What makes you think that?'

'Well, let's start with the food falling out of the extremely full fridge. Every time I take something out, it magically restocks with multiples of the same thing,' said Prue.

Paige did not say anything.

'Let's continue onto the fact that my dry cleaning keeps appearing, then disappearing, then reappearing in my bedroom,' continued Prue.

There was a sudden smash of glass from the living room. Prue and Phoebe did not respond to it.

'Should we not be worried about what is in the living room?' asked Paige.

'It is only the bulbs falling from the chandelier as they become magically replaced with new ones,' said Phoebe. 'It has been happening every five minutes. I would not go in the living room barefooted if I were you.'

'Oops,' said Paige.

'Yeah. The garden is also lacking in any plant life… The phone is engaged because it is continually calling the cable guy… Oh, and Paige, would you mind opening the cupboard for me?' said Prue.

'Which cupboard?' asked Paige.

'Any,' said Prue.

Hesitantly Paige chose a cupboard and opened it. The cupboard was full of herbs and spices, so full that some fell out onto the floor, just missing her. Paige tried to shut the cupboard, but it was kind of difficult, considering everything overflowing inside it.

'Yeah, hence the fridge is still open too,' said Prue when she noticed Paige struggling to close the cupboard door.

'So maybe Phoebe and I used magic…' said Paige slowly.

'Prue has already moaned at me,' said Phoebe, not looking up from her computer screen.

Paige felt guilty that Phoebe was taking part of the blame even though it must have been a total surprise to her when it all started happening. However, Paige guessed that Phoebe would rather Prue thought she had used magic than ditched the chores altogether to go on that prison tour.

'Do the two of you not care about personal gain at all?' ranted Prue. 'I mean this is obviously the consequence.'

'Well, we wanted to get the list completed fast to focus on the Alcatraz ghost situation,' improvised Paige.

'Yeah, Marianne phoned me about the ghost she saw while we were about to set out to start the list,' improvised Phoebe. 'I could not just ignore her. We decided to magically complete the chores list so as we could focus on researching this Alcatraz ghost.'

Prue nodded, convinced by their reason, but still mad at them. The doorbell rang.

'Are we expecting anyone?' Phoebe asked.

'Is Piper back early?' asked Paige.

'That would be an extremely short convention,' laughed Phoebe.

Prue left the kitchen to answer the door. She returned to the kitchen with Andy.

'Hey Andy,' said Phoebe.

'Hi there, Andy,' said Paige. 'How does it feel finally being in on the secret?'

'Andy and I were literally discussing that two minutes ago,' said Prue.

'Yeah, it is definitely a lot to get used to,' said Andy.

There was a smash from the living room. Andy was the only one that jumped.

'Is that normal?' asked Andy.

'Today it is,' said Prue.

'I see,' said Andy.

'So what brings you here, Andy?' asked Phoebe.

'The son of a former D.A. was brutally murdered,' said Andy.

Paige interrupted him. 'You are kidding me! You are still hiding personal house calls to see Prue behind work related tasks!'

Andy blushed. He was quickly distracted from this though when he noticed loads of food falling from the open fridge.

'Er, is that…' started Andy.

'No, it is not supposed to be doing that,' said Prue. 'Paige was on her way upstairs to fix it.'

Paige took the hint and left the kitchen. She went up to the attic and opened the Book of Shadows. Maybe there was a reversal spell somewhere.

Leo orbed into the attic.

'Paige, please tell me you have changed your mind,' said Leo.

'Did I call for you?' asked Paige.

'Well, no…' said Leo.

'Well, then I have not changed my mind,' said Paige.

'Paige, what is wrong?' asked Leo. 'What have I said or done?'

'Oh, so now you notice?' Paige looked up from the Book of Shadows and stared at Leo before saying firmly, 'How have I changed? You said I had changed for the worse. How have I changed for the worse?'

'For the worse?' said Leo surprised. 'Paige, I never said you had changed for the worse. All I said was that you have changed.'

'Okay, so I admit maybe I did exaggerate a little, but what is wrong with me changing?' asked Paige.

'I forget half of the time that you have grown up,' said Leo. 'I miss the days when you needed me to guide you.'

Paige was speechless. Leo had not been disappointed in her all along. He was just not used to Paige being so independent.

Paige finally found her voice. 'Hang on… I have always been quite independent, haven't I?'

'Yes… but recently I have thought that you… you go to the Halliwell sisters for advice instead of to me,' said Leo glumly.

'Give me an example,' said Paige.

'When you got your new telepathy powers, it was the Halliwell sisters who helped you learn to control it,' said Leo.

'Yes, but you were busy with charges,' said Paige.

'Paige, I would have come if you had called me,' said Leo.

'I am not accusing you of not being there for me,' said Paige. 'I do not accuse you of deserting me. Okay? I knew you were busy, and decided to go elsewhere for my advice. Don't feel like I don't trust your advice anymore. I still do. I just understand that you can be busy with other charges, who need you more than I do.'

Leo nodded hesitantly.

Paige sighed, realising something. 'Your charges need you more than I do… and that includes Daisy. She needs you and you obviously think I can help.'

Leo's frown broke into a smile. 'Are you saying you will help me?'

Paige smiled. She shut the Book of Shadows and nodded. 'Yes. Daisy needs our help.'

Leo took Paige's hand and orbed her out of the attic. Prue and Phoebe could wait for her to reverse the spell, and Paige was sure they could handle the Alcatraz ghost without her. Besides, they now had Andy to help them too. Leo needed Paige's help with Daisy and that was more important.

* * *

It had been half an hour since Paige and Leo had arrived at the holiday resort which Leo had sensed Daisy at. Paige and Leo were unsure where they were geographically, but the country or island did not matter. What mattered was finding Daisy. Leo had gone straight to the reception to book two single rooms: one for Paige, and one for himself. They did not know how long it would take to convince Daisy to go back to San Francisco with them. Once he had done that, Paige and Leo began to wander the resort, looking for any sign of Daisy.

Their search brought them to the hotel's poolside. It was full of tourists. Paige and Leo made their way across the area, looking at every person they passed, trying to see if they could spot Daisy. Leo was busy discussing all the information that Paige needed to know, therefore they could not split up to cover more ground. They were searching side by side.

'_Paige_? _Leo_? Paige and Leo _together_?'

Paige and Leo came to a stop in front of a woman who had previously been relaxing on a sun bed – previously being the key word here, as she was no longer relaxing after having spotted Paige and Leo.

The woman was not Daisy. It was Piper.

'We are in _Hawaii_?' Paige whispered to Leo.

'What is Piper doing in Hawaii?' Leo asked Paige quietly.

'She is here for a work convention,' whispered Paige.

'Please stop muttering and explain to me what the two of you are doing here,' said Piper hysterically. 'Leo, when you said you were 'geographically unavailable', I did not think you meant that because you would rather be with my sister than with me!'

Paige had to hold back some vomit in her disgust at hearing Piper's idea of why Paige and Leo were both in Hawaii. Paige turned to Leo to see his reaction. Then she noticed his expression.

'Paige, did Piper say you are her sister?' thought Leo.

* * *

**A/N:** Oohh, that was a complete mistake of mine to write Piper saying 'sister' in front of Leo. I had not noticed that I had put that originally. Okay, so I won't change it now, but Leo's question at the end is an addition to this chapter to make it even more of a cliff hanger. I will work with it. Sorry, Paige. Looks like it is time for Leo to find out. Typical that it is _always_ Piper that tells people that Paige is their sister when it is meant to be a secret. Please review!

There are now only three episodes (including this one) left of season one (I won't say how many chapters that will equate to). I am going to be slowing down the updates for this fan fiction. Therefore, at the very most, the next chapter will be up in a week.


	52. The Power of Two (And Leo Knows)

**A/N:** It is about time that Leo gets a chapter title with his name in. So far Piper has had three, Paige has had one. Technically Prue has had one, as well as Andy has had the same one. That now leaves Phoebe in need of a chapter title with her name in; then again she had plenty of episode names with her name in the canon show. Anyway, I suspect you want me to stop rambling so as you can read the chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Two: The Power of Two (And Leo Knows)**

'Is Piper telling the truth? Are you really her sister?' thought Leo.

'Leo, we have to tell her the truth about you,' thought Paige, trying to change the topic.

'Paige, we cannot blow my cover,' thought Leo. 'Besides, I want your answer. Are you really her sister?'

Piper was now standing up, staring at Paige and Leo, waiting for a response. Paige and Leo were both staring back at Piper. Paige was communicating telepathically with Leo.

'If we do not tell her the truth, she will think we are here together as a couple,' thought Paige. 'That makes me gag just thinking about it.'

'I cannot blow my cover, Paige. I am in big enough trouble with the Elders for letting Phoebe find out,' thought Leo. 'Now tell me, _are you her sister_?'

'What do you expect me to tell her?' thought Paige.

'I don't know what to tell her. All I want right now is for you to answer my question,' thought Leo.

'Paige, does he know about magic? I only ask because you two have been staring at me without a reply for the past five minutes, and I feel like you are having a telepathic conversation without me,' thought Piper.

Paige looked from Piper to Leo and then back to Piper.

'Piper, I should leave you and Leo to talk,' said Paige out loud.

Paige turned away but felt two hands pull her back. Both Piper and Leo had decided that she should stay for the conversation.

'What is going on, Paige?' asked Piper.

'Why don't you ask Leo?' asked Paige.

'You are my sister, Paige. I expect you to tell me this sort of thing,' said Piper. 'Are you and Leo dating?'

'No, we are not dating, Piper,' said Leo.

'So it just so happens that the two of you both jumped on a plane to Hawaii?' said Piper.

'Not on a plane, per say…' said Leo.

'Piper, I did not even know Leo and I were in Hawaii. If I did, I would never have bumped into you like this,' said Paige.

'How can you not know you are in Hawaii?' asked Piper. 'You knew I was here! You must have gotten the very next plane from San Francisco! How long have you and Leo been together?'

'Piper, we are not dating!' said Paige.

'Then how do you explain your being here together?' said Piper.

'Leo is…' began Paige hesitantly.

'Paige, don't…' said Leo.

'Don't what?' said Piper. 'Leo, last time we spoke you broke up with me because you were 'geographically unavailable'. I was able to understand that, but now you are here and you are here _with my sister_!'

Leo had obviously decided on a new tactic to get answers about the sister thing, because he said, 'In all my time as your handyman, the three of you always said that Paige was your friend, not your sister.'

Piper ignored the fact that Leo had pointed out her mistake, and focused on something else that he had said. 'Is that all you think I ever saw you as? You think that after all that time we spent together, I only ever thought of you as the _handyman_?'

'No, of course not, Piper! We had something special!' said Leo.

'If we had something special, why did you break it off? Geography does not seem to have kept you and Paige apart,' said Piper.

'Paige and I are here for business matters,' said Leo.

'Business matters? So is Paige a handyman now too? And she decided not to tell me? Strange, I thought the only convention here was the restaurant one,' said Piper sarcastically.

'Piper, Leo is…' began Paige again, but Leo stopped her.

'Paige, I should be the one to tell Piper, not you,' said Leo.

Paige nodded.

'Piper, we should go somewhere less public for this,' said Leo. 'Let's go to my hotel room.'

'Are you two sharing a room?' said Piper.

'Oh gosh no,' said Paige in disgust. 'Separate rooms. Ugh, the thought of sharing with him.'

Piper looked slightly relieved at Paige's response. The three of them left the beach and as Paige's hotel room was closest, the three of them went there.

Piper sat down on Paige's bed. Leo paced the room. Paige remained by the door.

'Do you want me to leave while you explain this?' asked Paige. 'I can continue searching for Daisy.'

'No, Paige, you should stay,' said Leo.

Paige remained by the door, feeling like the third wheel. Leo stopped pacing and faced Piper.

'Piper, I believe Paige told you and your sisters that she was your guide and that you did not have a white lighter,' began Leo.

Piper froze Leo there and then. She turned to look at Paige.

'Paige, is Leo about to tell me that he has been our white lighter this whole time?' asked Piper intuitively.

Paige hesitated. 'Maybe.'

'Even though when Phoebe told Prue and me that he was our white lighter, you denied it,' said Piper.

'Maybe,' said Paige sheepishly.

'So you knew all along that Leo was our white lighter. Hang on, which means Phoebe must have known too!' said Piper.

'Phoebe found out by mistake. Leo had to keep it a secret from the three of you, just like I did. Leo asked me to make sure you and Prue did not find out, so I had to make Phoebe look like she was making it up when she told you,' said Paige.

Piper shook her head. 'Every time I think you have told me everything, I always find out that you were keeping another secret from me.'

'Piper, I am sorry, okay? I kept the secret for Leo. He has been training me. I am like his white lighter apprentice even though I am not a white lighter,' said Paige.

Piper sighed. 'Is there anything more I need to know that you are keeping from me?'

'No,' lied Paige.

'Why did I even bother asking? You probably are lying again,' said Piper glumly.

'Piper, trust me, okay? I am your sister. You can trust me,' said Paige. She felt extremely guilty saying this, because of course she was not telling Piper everything again. Then Paige decided to change the subject a little. She was angry at Piper. 'Why did you tell Leo that I am your sister? He is a white lighter! Now that he knows, the Elders are sure to find out!'

'I told him what? Oh my gosh, I did, didn't I? Paige, I was jealous at seeing you two together. My mind went straight to thinking that you were _together_ together, and I forgot all about the fact that he did not know you were my sister,' said Piper apologetically.

'It is okay… I just need to think of a way around this…' said Paige. 'Don't unfreeze him until after I have closed this door.'

Paige went to open the door.

'You are leaving?' asked Piper.

'Leo and I have a job to do here. You and Leo can talk while I go to start on that job,' said Paige.

Paige left the room and closed the door behind her. She had been able to sense for her mother's whereabouts when they had been in stuck in the 70's all those months ago. She wondered whether she could sense where Daisy was.

Paige closed her eyes. Her instincts told her to start walking down the corridor. So she did. Up the stairs. Two more flights of stairs. Walk along another corridor. Eventually she came to a stop at the door of a hotel room.

Paige knocked on the door.

'Who is it?' asked the person on the other side of the door. It was Daisy's voice. She sounded worried.

'It is Paige,' said Paige.

Slowly Daisy opened the door. She let Paige come in.

'Paige… What are you doing here?' asked Daisy.

'Leo sent me,' said Paige.

'Why did he send you?' asked Daisy.

'You know why,' said Paige. 'He wants you to move to San Francisco. You will be safer there.'

'Safer? Am I not safe now?' asked Daisy. 'Leo cloaked me. Ever since Leo cloaked me, I have not seen Alec.'

'If you think you are safe, why did you run away to Hawaii?' asked Paige.

'If Leo thinks I am safe, why does he want me to go to San Francisco?' countered Daisy.

'Leo never said you were safe,' said Paige. 'The Charmed Ones can protect you.'

'I wanted to try and get away from it all… to hide… that is why I came here…' said Daisy, refusing to look at Paige.

'Unfortunately, you can never hide from the things that scare you, however far you run…' said Paige. 'Leo can take you to San Francisco. You will be safe there until we finally deal with Alec.'

'Deal with Alec? What do you mean by deal with him?' asked Daisy.

'My sisters, the Charmed Ones… Their job… Our job is to vanquish evil. If Alec is killing again, we will have to vanquish him,' explained Paige.

'Promise me that you will not vanquish him unless you have proof that he is killing again,' said Daisy.

Paige sighed. 'I promise.'

Paige and Daisy stood up.

'I should check out of this hotel room,' said Daisy.

Paige nodded. 'You won't need to catch a flight back. I am sure Leo will orb you.'

Daisy smiled.

Suddenly the room filled with a blue glow as Leo orbed in. Piper was with him. Piper let go of Leo and fell forward.

'Orbing is… strange,' said Piper, trying to regain her balance.

'You will get used to it,' said both Daisy and Paige.

'Daisy, this is one of my sisters, Piper,' said Paige. 'She is one of the Charmed Ones who will be protecting you.'

Piper smiled at Daisy.

'Does this mean that you are agreeing to go to San Francisco?' Leo asked Daisy.

Daisy nodded.

Leo smiled. 'Okay. I have an apartment rented in San Francisco for you to stay at. I will orb you there now.' Leo turned to Paige, and said, 'I will be back in half an hour to orb you home.'

Paige nodded. Leo orbed out with Daisy.

Paige laughed. 'Looks like the hotel room is going to find it has unpaid bills considering there will be three guests that have fled without checking out.'

'You, Leo, and Daisy?' said Piper.

Paige nodded. 'I assume you are staying for the rest of the convention.'

Piper nodded.

'So you and Leo had a talk?' asked Paige, wanting to know what had happened.

Piper nodded. 'Leo told me everything that you told me while he was frozen. He told me that he will always be there for us. If we need him, we are supposed to call his name…'

'Piper, I don't care about that part. I want to know what you two discussed about your… relationship,' said Paige directly.

Piper smiled at Paige's directness. 'You sure do like getting to the point.'

'I am a Halliwell,' said Paige.

Piper's smile melted away as she said, 'Leo told me that the reason he left me was because it is forbidden for white lighters to have a relationship with their charges. He offered to clip his wings. I told him that I could never let him do that. We only went on a few dates… It was never anything serious…'

Paige could tell Piper was lying to herself, to try and make it hurt less.

'So you broke it off with Leo for good?' asked Paige softly.

Piper looked Paige in the eyes. There were tears forming in Piper's eyes now.

'I had to,' said Piper. 'We have no possible future together.'

Piper broke into sobs. Paige hugged her sister.

Piper's pager suddenly went off. Piper wiped her eyes and looked at it.

'I am supposed to be at a talk right now,' said Piper. 'I should go.'

Piper went to leave. Paige stopped her.

'Piper, are you okay with me going back home?' asked Paige. 'Do you want me to stay?'

Piper sighed. 'I can survive the rest of this week without my sisters. Go back to Prue and Phoebe.'

Paige nodded. Piper said goodbye and left the room. As soon as the door closed, Leo orbed in.

'Attic?' asked Paige.

Leo shook his head. 'Elders. They are ready to tell you your punishment.'

Leo took Paige's hand and orbed her up there.

* * *

After the Elders had told Paige her punishment, Leo had orbed her straight to the attic. Fortunately for Paige, Leo had not mentioned to the Elders about his knowledge that Paige was related to the Halliwells. However, Paige was wondering why Leo had decided not to broach the subject with her yet.

Before Paige could ask him on his opinion of the news, he orbed out of the attic.

The attic door opened. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe entered.

'Hi guys,' said Paige weakly. 'Wait, what are you doing here, Piper? There is no possible way you could have gotten back here this fast…'

'What do you mean, Paige?' asked Piper. 'It has been a whole week since I came back from Hawaii.'

'Huh?' said Paige in confusion. She was sure she had only been up there for a couple of hours. 'Are you trying to say that it has been almost ten days since I last saw you, Piper?'

Piper nodded. Paige was annoyed. When she had gone up there for her original hearing, the Elders had used magic to make sure that the time up there ran parallel to the time on Earth. However, this time the Elders must not have done that.

'It was a little annoying to find out from Piper that you had been in Hawaii,' said Prue.

'Oh, I never got around to reversing that spell, did I?' said Paige guiltily.

Prue shook her head.

'As soon as we vanquished the Alcatraz ghost, I managed to find a reversal spell,' said Phoebe.

'What is this about an Alcatraz ghost?' asked Piper.

Paige laughed. 'You never told her?'

'We did not want Piper to worry,' said Prue.

'Well, it is too late because I am worrying now,' said Piper.

'Relax, Piper, we took care of it, and we did not even have the Power of Three to help us,' said Phoebe.

'Sorry!' said Paige again. 'I swear I thought I had only been gone for a day!'

'A day? Where did you go after Leo orbed you out of Hawaii?' asked Piper. When Paige quickly looked from Piper to Prue and back to Piper, Piper added, 'I told Prue the moment I got back. All of us know about Leo now. So where did you go?'

'I had to go and receive my punishment for keeping the secret about being a witch,' said Paige. 'Apparently time up there goes slower than time down here.'

'Did Leo keep his word and not tell them about you being our sister?' asked Piper.

Paige nodded. 'Hang on. 'Keep his word'? Did you ask him not to tell them?'

Piper nodded. 'I told him your fears and concerns, and asked him to keep it a secret. He promised me that he would.'

Paige smiled. 'Thank you.'

'So what was your punishment?' asked Phoebe curiously.

'The usual. They have taken away my powers. Considering I only had one – telepathy – it cannot be too bad. I can still cast spells and stuff like that,' said Paige.

'Will you ever get it back?' asked Prue.

'When I have proven myself trustworthy, yes,' said Paige.

Trust. That was a big issue at the moment, wasn't it? Leo had found out that Paige had been keeping a big secret from him for a while; Piper had found out that Paige had been keeping another secret from her for a while; the Elders still knew nothing of the family relationship between Paige and the Halliwells…

Suddenly, Paige noticed that Prue was wearing a bikini.

'What is with the bikini?' asked Paige.

'The four of us are off to Cabo any minute now,' said Prue. 'I figured we could do with a holiday. I was also hoping you would show up soon. We only have forty eight hours there, so I don't want to waste time getting changed after I get there.'

Paige nodded. 'Do I have time to pack?'

'Prue packed your stuff already,' laughed Phoebe. 'She really did not want to waste time.'

'Standing here chatting is wasting time,' said Prue. 'Let's get on the road.'

The four of them were about to leave the attic when Paige heard the familiar sound of someone orbing in, followed by a loud thump on the attic floor. The four of them turned around to see Leo lying on the floor with an arrow in his shoulder.

* * *

**A/N:** I thought it would be interesting to end this episode with the beginning of _Love Hurts_, which you should recognise as the impaled Leo in the attic incident. The next chapter will be the continuation of _Love Hurts_, an episode I have been waiting so long to get to! Please review!


	53. Love Hurts (Plus That Useless Feeling)

**A/N:** Unfortunately there will be some lines within this chapter that are recognisable from the original canon episode. Some answers to a few reviews from the previous chapter now:

The sisters do not know that Paige is Leo's adopted daughter yet. That won't happen just yet.

Leo and Paige will not have the chance to talk in this chapter, unfortunately.

The Elders only took away Paige's power of telepathy – therefore she still has her unknown white lighter abilities.

Thank you to everyone else that reviewed!

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Three: Love Hurts (Plus That Useless Feeling)**

Prue ran to get bandages from the bathroom while Piper, Phoebe, and Paige carried Leo onto the attic sofa.

'Be careful,' Piper said to Phoebe and Paige.

'We are being careful,' said Phoebe.

Leo was now lying on the sofa. He smiled weakly at Piper.

'So much for not seeing each other again,' said Piper weakly. She was welling up with tears.

Phoebe stood back, allowing Piper to have some space with Leo. Paige did not move. She was in a state of shock. Leo was dying. A dark lighter's arrow was sticking out of his shoulder and unless they found another white lighter quickly, Leo would die.

'We have to get the arrow out,' said Phoebe.

'No, don't touch it, it is tipped with poison,' said Leo.

Paige zoned out from her surroundings as Prue entered the attic. Paige's heart was hammering. She had known Leo forever and he had never been successfully shot by a dark lighter before. She felt like she should be doing something to help him, but what could she do to help? Paige watched as Prue pulled the arrow out with her telekinesis. Paige watched as Piper tended to Leo's wound. Paige watched as Phoebe started asking Leo questions about what had happened to him. Leo pointed at Paige. Paige suddenly noticed all three sisters staring at her.

'Paige?' said Phoebe.

'Yes?' said Paige. Her response came out croakily. Paige was holding back tears and her throat had clammed up a little.

'Leo was saying that you can explain everything. Something about Alec and Daisy..?' said Phoebe.

'Alec? Alec did this to you?' said Paige, looking at Leo, her expression fraught with pain and disbelief.

'I went straight to Daisy after I dropped you here… Alec followed me to Daisy… He knew I would be talking to her even though he could not see her…' said Leo.

Paige clenched her fists. 'I wish I had vanquished Alec when I first met him.'

'If I die, the cloaking will no longer work, and Alec will be able to find her,' said Leo weakly.

'We will find Alec before he finds Daisy,' said Paige. 'He won't get away with this.'

Paige went straight to the Book of Shadows and began flipping through it.

'Paige, what are you doing?' asked Prue.

'Looking for a way to vanquish dark lighters,' said Paige.

'Paige, we should be focusing on finding Daisy, not vanquishing Alec,' said Phoebe. Phoebe turned to Leo, and asked, 'Where is Daisy?'

'I don't know. The last time I saw her she was at a mini-mart in the Castro, headed for her rental car,' said Leo.

'If Alec gets too close, we can use the Power of Three to vanquish him,' said Prue.

'There are four of us, so one of us can stay with Leo,' said Piper, hinting that she wanted to stay.

Prue and Phoebe agreed.

Paige's hand scrunched into a fist, causing her to crumple the page of the Book that she was holding. Piper got to stay with Leo because they knew about the love that existed between Piper and Leo. Paige had no say in whether she got to stay with Leo – who was practically her dad – because her sisters did not know that she was his adopted daughter. Paige felt hurt that Piper was allowed to stay, but that she was not. At the same time, this added to Paige's determination to find and vanquish Alec.

'Phoebe, you call the airline and cancel our tickets. I will call Andy because he may be able to help us. Piper, you can stay with Leo. Paige, I need you to do something downstairs too,' said Prue.

Paige picked up the Book of Shadows. Reluctantly Paige left the attic, leaving her… her father in the care of Piper.

* * *

Once in the foyer, Phoebe went to phone the airline. Paige went into the living room and put the Book of Shadows on the coffee table. She sat down on the sofa and continued to look through the Book.

Paige heard movement behind her. She looked around and saw that Prue had followed her into the living room.

'So why did you need me to leave the attic?' Paige asked irritably.

'Nothing important,' said Prue. 'I just thought that Piper might want some time alone with Leo.'

Paige stared bitterly at Prue. Paige was kind of relieved that the Elders had temporarily removed her telepathy powers, because she could easily have slipped up and let Prue hear her thoughts if she still had that power right now. If only Prue could hear what Paige was thinking about her: it was not pretty.

Phoebe entered the living room. 'Our airline tickets are now cancelled.'

'Good,' said Prue. She left the living room, probably on her way to make a phone call to Andy.

Phoebe approached Paige.

'A bit of a shock seeing Leo so vulnerable, isn't it?' said Phoebe.

'I have known him for so long,' said Paige quietly, finally letting some tears drop.

Phoebe sat down next to her little sister. 'Paige, how long have you known Leo? I thought you only met him when you started helping him with his work.'

Paige wiped her eyes dry with her sleeve. She sniffed. 'I have known him a lot longer than that. He is… He is like family to me… I feel so useless right now. What can I do to help him?'

'Paige, I never knew… I always thought that you and Leo were just work colleagues… He is like a brother to you?'

Paige sighed. 'Something like that.' This was not the time to bring about the news that she was his adopted daughter. They needed to be effective and help Leo – not sit around and gape at such a revelation.

'Paige, you are not useless. We will find Daisy, vanquish Alec, and save Leo,' Phoebe reassured her. 'Does Leo eat?'

'Of course he eats,' said Paige.

'I will take some food up to him then,' said Phoebe. 'Unless you want to take the food up to him?'

'You go. I want to find a way of vanquishing Alec,' said Paige resolutely. Her real reason for not wanting to go to the attic was because she believed that if she saw Leo in his current state, she would burst into uncontrollable tears.

Phoebe left the living room. Paige had already heard Prue leave the manor, probably to talk to Andy in person. A few minutes later, Paige heard Phoebe go up the stairs.

* * *

Paige finally found the page on dark lighters. It told her everything she needed to know: The best spell to locate them, the best spell to trap them, and the best spell to vanquish them. Paige smiled. She went to the kitchen to find some paper. She needed to write these down. When she returned to the living room with paper and a pen, Paige found Piper sitting in her place, flipping through the Book of Shadows.

'Piper, what are you doing?' asked Paige, about to moan at Piper for taking the Book of Shadows when Paige had been in the middle of using it.

'I am looking for something to save Leo,' said Piper, not looking up.

Paige's anger dissolved. Saving Leo was important. Paige sat down next to Piper.

'Good idea,' said Paige softly.

'Paige, will he… could he… I mean, he is technically already dead, so surely he cannot…' Piper could not utter the word.

'Die?' said Paige croakily.

'Could he?' asked Piper. 'I mean, how is it possible? He is already dead, so a dead man cannot die, can he?'

Paige gulped. 'If it were anything other than a dark lighter's arrow, Leo would be absolutely fine. A dark lighter's arrow contains the only known poison that can kill a white lighter… This is why we need to get Leo healed by another white lighter. I don't understand why the Elders have not sent one down yet! They must know he is hurt!'

There was a silence between the two sisters while Piper continued to flick through the Book of Shadows and Paige tried to not break down in tears.

Phoebe entered the living room. Paige looked up at her.

'Piper is trying to find a way to cure Leo,' Paige explained to Phoebe.

Piper suddenly yelled at the room in general that she was having no luck and that the Book was useless, lacking any possible way of saving him. Phoebe responded to this with a comment on the bad shape that Leo was in.

Phoebe sighed. 'Maybe we were not supposed to save Leo. Maybe we were only meant to save Daisy.'

'We have to save him whether we are meant to or not,' said Piper with determination in her voice.

Paige took a deep breath. If Leo was destined to survive, if they were meant to save him, surely the Elders would have sent a white lighter down to heal him by now?

* * *

An hour or so had passed. In that time, Piper had returned to the attic with the Book of Shadows. Phoebe and Paige had remained downstairs, discussing possible ways of finding Daisy – or from Paige's perspective, ways of vanquishing Alec.

Prue suddenly entered the manor. She came into the living room where Phoebe and Paige were.

'Hi,' said Prue.

'You took your time talking to Andy,' said Phoebe.

'I know, but he had a lead on where we might be able to find Daisy. We ended up bumping into Alec,' said Prue.

Phoebe stood up. 'I should go and get Piper,' she said. Phoebe went up the stairs.

Paige stood up from the sofa and stared at Prue. 'You bumped into Alec? Did you vanquish him?'

'No, at least I don't think so… I threw him across the room with my power and then he turned into dust which flew out of the window,' said Prue.

'Probably just a dark lighter's version of orbing. They orb differently to white lighters,' said Paige. 'We should try and track him down. He may have left a trail of some sort.'

'Paige, we need to focus on finding Daisy first,' said Prue.

'If we find Alec, we should find Daisy,' said Paige.

'Yes, but you seem too focused on the vanquishing Alec part,' said Prue.

'He hurt Leo,' said Paige, trying to keep her voice steady. 'Leo might die.'

'Paige, you are very close to Leo, aren't you?' said Prue.

Paige nodded. 'Leo and I are like family to one another, Prue.'

Prue nodded in understanding.

'Prue! Paige! You probably want to get up here!' Phoebe shouted from the attic.

Prue and Paige exchanged worried looks.

'You don't think Leo is..?' began Prue.

Paige shook her head. 'The poison does not act _that_ fast.'

They ran up to the attic. Both Prue and Paige were glad to see that Leo was still conscious (though barely conscious), which meant that had not been the reason that Phoebe had called them up there.

'What is going on?' asked Prue.

'Ah, you know, the usual, made some coffee, read the newspaper, walked in on Piper switching powers with Leo. You know,' said Phoebe casually.

'I have to save him,' said Piper.

Prue asked whether it was safe. Piper told her that she did not care. She was casting the spell unless any of them had better ideas. Prue told Piper to continue.

Piper began to recite the spell:

'_What's mine is yours, what's yours is mine,_

_Let our powers cross the line._

_I offer up my gift to share,_

_Switch the powers through the air._'

'Did it work?' asked Phoebe.

Piper attempted to freeze Kit, who had just run into the attic. Kit did not freeze.

'I cannot freeze,' said Piper.

Prue was pointing out how that was a good sign and that she, Phoebe, and Paige would go and look for Daisy, while Piper remained and tried to heal Leo.

Kit had jumped onto a table. As Kit brushed by a lamp, the lamp knocked off the table. Paige threw her hands out to try and stop it falling even though she was nowhere near close enough to catch it. The lamp changed direction and flew across the room into Paige's hand.

All eyes – except Leo's because he was hardly aware of his surroundings at the moment – turned to Paige.

'Did I just move that?' asked Paige.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe nodded slowly.

'That cannot be right,' said Paige. 'I have had Prue's telekinesis power a couple of times before, and they have never worked ordinarily like this.'

Paige was thinking back to the time when she had temporarily gained all three of the Charmed powers, as well as the time when she had possessed a Prue clone and used Prue's power that way.

Paige made a gesture with her hand and the lamp went flying back towards the table.

'Wait a second,' said Prue, holding up her hand. 'If you have my power, whose power do I have..?'

'Er, Prue, look at what you just did to the lamp,' said Phoebe.

'Huh?' said Prue.

Prue looked up at the lamp. It was frozen mid-air.

'I have Piper's power?' said Prue.

'Am I going to get yelled at?' asked Piper timidly.

'Piper, you have switched all of our powers,' said Prue.

'It is a supernatural Freaky Friday. Hang on, if she has switched all of our powers…' said Phoebe, trying to figure it out. 'What does that leave me with? Leo must have my premonitions, so I must have Paige's… Paige currently has no powers! – no offence, Paige.'

'None taken,' said Paige.

Piper hovered her hand over Leo's wound. 'Okay, I can do this. Now heal! Heal!' Piper was becoming more and more agitated as it continued to not work. 'Why is this not working?'

Suddenly the phone rang. Phoebe jumped in surprise. Phoebe orbed out of the attic and then back.

'Phoebe…' said Paige. 'You just orbed.'

'I did?' said Phoebe.

Prue and Piper nodded. Piper got to her feet.

'If you orbed, then you got Leo's power in the power switch, which means I either have your premonition powers or Paige's… er…' said Piper.

'It is okay – you can call my current lack of a power useless,' said Paige.

'No, having no powers never made you useless. You were helpful even before the Elders granted you telepathy,' said Prue.

'Premonitions or no power. Either of those makes me useless to helping Leo,' said Piper.

The phone had stopped ringing. However, as soon as it stopped, it immediately began to ring again.

'Sounds like it could be important,' said Phoebe. 'I will get it.'

Phoebe left the attic.

'Why did Phoebe leave? She needs to heal Leo!' shouted Paige.

'She will be back any second now,' said Prue. 'She can stay with Leo while the three of us leave to find Daisy.'

Piper had gone pale. 'I have to leave Leo alone?'

'Not alone, Piper. Phoebe will be here,' said Prue.

'Yes, but I won't…' said Piper miserably.

'Piper, we need you out there to make up the Power of Three,' said Prue.

'I know,' said Piper half-heartedly.

'Piper, we will vanquish Alec for the distress he has caused us,' said Paige.

'_And_ save Daisy,' added Prue.

'If we vanquish Alec, Daisy will automatically be saved,' said Paige, annoyed that Prue kept repeating herself.

Phoebe returned to the attic and explained that Andy had a lead on where Daisy was. Her credit card was last used at the local bus station. They did not have time to do another power switching spell.

'Phoebe, there has been a change of plan,' said Prue. 'You have to stay here and heal Leo. Piper is coming with us.'

Phoebe nodded. 'Sorry, Piper. I know how much you wanted to be the one to save him.'

'Just do it, Phoebe, please. Save him,' said Piper.

Phoebe hovered her hand over Leo's wound. Nothing happened.

'I don't know what the trigger for the healing power is, but it is difficult to master,' said Paige. 'Keep trying, Pheebs.'

Phoebe nodded.

'We really need to go,' said Prue.

Prue and Paige left the attic. Piper had not moved from her spot.

'Piper, come on!' said Prue.

Piper turned around and came down the stairs.

'We are doing this for Leo,' said Piper, welling up.

'For Leo,' agreed Prue and Paige.

* * *

**A/N:** Was Paige's reaction how you expected it to be? I wanted her to react in revenge seeking demon hunting mode rather than shattered with sadness mode – technically that makes her more like Piper (Piper's reaction in _Hell Hath No Fury_ in an attempt to get over Prue's death) than Prue (Prue's reaction in _Witch Trial_ in an attempt to get over Andy's death). So whose power do you think Piper got? Phoebe's or Paige's? What do you think of how I have changed it around from the original canon episode's power switch? There is a reason why I made Phoebe get the white lighter powers. The reason will become obvious in the next chapter. Please review!


	54. Love Hurts (And Orb It All)

**A/N:** One of my favourite lines from _Charmed_ comes from _Dead Man Dating_. As this fan fiction started after that episode, I was not able to use that line. However, because Prue will ask the inevitable question of how Piper's powers work, that line will make an appearance in this chapter. Yay! I will reply to the reviews in the second A/N which will be quite a long one.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Four: Love Hurts (And Orb It All)**

Prue, Piper, and Paige finally reached the building that housed the bus station. Paige separated from her sisters, rushing around, looking for Daisy and Alec.

Prue and Piper caught up with Paige.

'Paige, you need to be careful,' said Prue.

'What are you on about?' asked Paige.

'I can tell you are highly emotional right now,' said Prue.

'What makes you say that?' asked Paige.

'Prue's power works on emotion,' said Piper.

'So?' asked Paige.

'As you have been running through this bus station, pamphlets have been flying off racks, people's bags have been flying off chairs, chairs have been flying across floors…' said Prue.

'Okay, okay! You can stop listing things,' said Paige, looking around the crowds for a face that she recognised.

'You need to calm down,' said Prue. 'Only let that anger out when you come face to face with Alec, but even then you need to keep in control of it.'

'Prue, stop it with the rules! You are always making up rules!' said Paige.

'Paige, listen to her. She knows her power best,' said Piper.

Paige took a deep breath. 'Is that calm enough for you?'

'Getting there,' smiled Prue.

'Prue, see if you can freeze the room. It may make our search easier,' said Piper.

'What is your trigger though? I know my trigger for telekinesis is emotion, but what is yours for freezing?' asked Prue.

'I don't know,' said Piper. 'I panic, I put up both hands, and bad things tend to freeze.'

Paige laughed. It was the first time she had let out a laugh all day.

'I am glad to see you finally smiling, Paige,' said Prue.

Paige's smile vanished as her mind returned to the seriousness of their situation – to the fact that Leo could still be dying if Phoebe had not worked out how to heal him yet.

'Let's see if your helpful tuition pays off, Piper,' said Prue humorously.

Piper rolled her eyes. Prue flicked up her hands. Everyone in the room except for Prue, Piper, and Paige froze. Paige ran over to the main entrance and locked it to stop anyone from entering the room while it was frozen.

'Piper, if you have Phoebe's power of premonition, you might be able to get a premonition telling us where Daisy is,' said Prue.

'How does Phoebe's premonition power work?' asked Piper.

'I have no idea. Doesn't she just go around feeling things until she gets a premonition?' said Prue.

Piper shrugged. 'I guess I will give that a go.'

While Piper began wandering around, trying to call for a premonition, Prue and Paige went from person to person, looking to see if any were Daisy. After checking everyone in the station room, they realised that Daisy was not there. Prue flicked her hands and the room unfroze. Piper returned to her sisters.

'I did not get a premonition,' said Piper. 'Either I suck at using Phoebe's power, or Leo got Phoebe's power and I got Paige's…'

'Is anyone ever going to finish that sentence?' said Paige. 'I know I lack a power at the moment… I don't understand why the power switch spell involved me if I have no powers.'

'Do you think we were too late?' said Prue, getting back onto topic. 'Do you think Daisy's bus already left with her on it?'

'I don't know,' said Piper. 'This station is one big room. Where else could she be?'

Suddenly all three of them realised the same thing at once.

'The rest room!' they said.

The three of them ran to the women's rest room. They entered and immediately saw Alec cornering Daisy.

'So this is the legendary Alec that everyone has been talking about?' said Prue.

'Yeah, but has anyone ever told him that men and women have separate rest rooms?' said Paige.

Alec turned to see the three of them. He snarled.

'Paige. I guess I expected to see you again after what I did to Leo,' said Alec.

'Except this time, I am not going to be so lenient on you,' said Paige bitterly.

Alec faked a look of disappointment. 'You mean you won't punish me with a double date again? Aaww, why not, Paige?' He ended his sentence with a cold, cruel laugh.

A crossbow appeared in his hand and he pointed it at Paige.

'Don't you dare point that at my sister!' said Piper.

'The Power of Three will set us free…' began Prue.

Piper and Paige turned to Prue. Surely, they could not use the original Power of Three spell to vanquish Alec that easily?

'The Power of Three will set us free,' said Piper.

Paige shrugged. A Power of Three spell would probably be a far more painful vanquish for Alec than the ordinary dark lighter vanquishing spell.

'The Power of Three will set us free,' said Paige, glaring at Alec.

'The Power of Three will set us free!' chanted Prue, Piper, and Paige in harmony.

Alec dropped his crossbow on the floor. He burst into flame before disappearing, leaving behind a pile of ash.

'He deserved that,' said Paige bitterly.

'Paige! Piper!' said Daisy happily. 'Thank you! And thank you to you too…'

'Prue,' said Prue smiling.

'Thank you, Prue,' said Daisy.

Daisy began to walk towards the three sisters. However, she accidentally trod on the crossbow, causing it to release an arrow. The arrow was heading in Piper's direction. Prue's reaction was too slow to freeze the arrow – she was not used to having Piper's power. Paige's reaction was too slow to divert the direction of the arrow – she was not used to having Prue's power. In fear, Piper covered her eyes. She orbed out of the spot in time for the arrow to pass through where she had previously stood and connect with the wall. Piper orbed back to the spot a second or two later.

'Where did the arrow go?' asked Piper, oblivious to the fact that she had just orbed.

'Piper… You… You orbed!' said Prue.

'What?' said Piper. 'No, that cannot be right, because Phoebe got Leo's white lighter powers. I got either Phoebe or Paige's power, and we know that Phoebe is not a white lighter…'

Prue and Piper turned to Paige.

'Is there something you have forgotten to tell us, Paige?' said Piper. 'Like the fact that you could be part white lighter?'

'I… I can't be… I thought I could be one when we were in the seventies and I heard Mum mention something about her white lighter being called Sam, but then when I tried to orb I couldn't do it,' said Paige.

'Maybe orbing has a trigger of its own,' said Prue. 'Phoebe only orbed because she jumped at the sound of the phone ringing. It scared her… and then she orbed. Piper had an arrow hurtling at her. She got scared… Maybe fear is the trigger.'

'So you think I could never orb because I did not know how to trigger it?' said Paige.

Prue nodded.

'So you are trying to tell me that my father, Sam Wilder, was definitely Mum's white lighter?' said Paige.

'It seems that way,' said Prue.

'I think I need to sit down,' said Paige.

'We don't have time,' said Piper. 'We need to get back to Leo.'

'Is Leo okay?' asked Daisy.

'We are doing our best to save him, Daisy,' said Prue. 'You should be safe now. Alec is gone for good. Do you think you will be fine getting home by yourself?'

Daisy nodded. 'Thank you. Thank Leo for me too when he is better.'

Daisy left the rest room.

'Piper, do you think you could orb us back to the attic?' asked Prue.

'My heart is in the right place, but I don't know if I am scared enough to trigger it,' said Piper.

'Fear may be the trigger, but white lighters obviously do not get scared in order to orb the whole time, so there must be a way of gaining control over it,' said Paige.

Piper nodded. She took a deep breath. She took each of her sisters' hands and closed her eyes.

Paige smiled as she felt the familiar lurch of a successful orb. As they re-materialised in the attic, Prue and Piper fell to the ground, trying to regain their balance. Paige was used to being orbed places though. She could not wait to get her powers back, but first things first…

'Piper, help Phoebe. Your combined powers could work,' said Paige.

Piper nodded. Phoebe looked at her sisters.

'I did not hear you come in,' said Phoebe.

'Piper orbed us here,' said Prue.

'What?' said Phoebe. 'Why do we have two sets of white lighter powers in this power switch?'

'Paige,' smiled Piper.

Phoebe raised her eyebrows. 'Paige?'

'No time for chit-chat. Heal! Heal!' said Paige.

Phoebe frowned. 'I cannot get the power to work.'

Piper pushed Phoebe out of the way and put her hand over Leo's wounded shoulder.

'Hang on in there, Leo,' said Piper.

Phoebe stood up and walked over to Prue and Paige.

'Paige is a white lighter now?' said Phoebe.

'Apparently I have always been one,' said Paige. 'Well, actually I am part witch part white lighter.'

Prue clicked her fingers. 'Phoebe got your power! Not Piper!'

'Huh?' said Phoebe and Paige.

'Leo is a full white lighter. You are only half white lighter, so your white lighter powers may not be as advanced as Leo's are,' said Prue. 'Phoebe has been trying to heal Leo all day unsuccessfully, while Piper was able to learn to orb without the fear trigger straight away.'

'That is quite a big assumption there,' said Phoebe.

'Yeah, but knowing me, it is probably right,' said Prue.

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige looked over at Piper. She had her head rested on Leo's chest. She was crying. She had given up hope.

'I love you, Leo,' said Piper. Suddenly her hands began to glow.

'Oh oh oh! She found the trigger! It is love!' guffawed Phoebe.

'Shush! Don't distract her then!' whispered Prue hurriedly.

Piper hovered her hand over Leo's shoulder. It healed. Leo sat up slowly. Piper smiled at him. They hugged.

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige exchanged awkward looks.

'I think they probably want to be alone,' said Phoebe.

'Yeah,' said Paige. 'It could get awkward if we stay standing here.'

'I definitely don't want to see anything that I won't be able to unsee,' agreed Prue. 'We will reverse the power switch spell later.'

The three of them left the attic, leaving Piper and Leo alone.

* * *

'I have just realised something,' said Phoebe to Prue and Paige.

'What's that?' asked Paige.

'Do you remember when you had sleep travelling problems?' asked Phoebe.

'You are not trying to suggest that I was..?' began Paige.

'Orbing in your sleep?' asked Phoebe. 'Yes. Yes, that is exactly what I was implying.'

'How did we not spot it back then?' scowled Paige.

'At least we know now,' said Prue.

* * *

Piper and Leo came downstairs twenty minutes later. They were holding hands.

Phoebe smiled. 'So are you two back together for good this time?'

'Whether the Elders like it or not,' said Leo. 'Thank you for saving Daisy.'

'Thank you for not dying on us,' said Phoebe light-heartedly. 'I don't know what we would do without you.'

'You don't need me,' said Leo. 'You have Paige, who it turns out has been part white lighter all along.'

'Leo, you better still be our white lighter,' said Prue. 'Paige is our sister. We don't want her getting chased down by angry dark lighters.'

'I don't want Leo getting chased down by angry dark lighters either,' said Piper, hugging Leo closer.

'Piper, I could always clip my wings for you,' said Leo.

'No!' said Piper. 'You need to keep helping people, Leo. That is your job. That is your gift.'

'All we want to make sure is that you don't stop being our white lighter either,' said Phoebe.

'I never said I was going to stop being your white lighter,' said Leo. 'Things will be different now that you three know, and now that Piper and I are together properly.'

'I should go and get the Book down so as we can reverse the spell,' said Prue, heading up the stairs.

'A witch and a white lighter had a child without the Elders finding out,' said Leo, fascinated by the prospect that he and Piper could become a couple without the Elders finding out. He now knew that such a thing was possible to hide from the Elders. 'Since your mother was Patty… her white lighter was… Your father is Sam Wilder?'

'That is what she told me when I summoned her,' said Paige. 'She never told me that he was a white lighter though.'

'Wow,' said Leo. 'Paige, I need to tell the Elders about you being a white lighter. That way I can start helping you learn your white lighter abilities.'

'You mean you will teach me to orb? Teach me to… to glamour? Teach me to heal?' said Paige, getting all excited.

Leo smiled. 'Yes, but the Elders will notice, which is why I have to tell them before they find out by themselves. Don't worry about their reaction.'

Leo patted Paige on the shoulder. His expression changed.

'I recognise that face,' said Piper, laughing. 'That looks like Phoebe's expression when she has a premonition.'

'Oh yeah, I see what you mean,' laughed Paige.

'Do I really make that face when having a premonition?' said Phoebe.

Leo took a deep breath as he came out of his premonition.

'What did you see?' asked Paige.

'I saw me telling the Elders about you being part white lighter,' said Leo.

'How did they – I mean – How will they take it?' asked Paige.

'They will be surprised, but think that it is a good thing that you have white lighter abilities,' said Leo.

'Why do you think Prue is taking so long?' asked Phoebe.

Piper shrugged. 'Demon?'

'Hope not. I am tired,' said Paige.

'I assume you don't actually think there is one,' said Leo. 'Either that or you don't mind Prue facing a demon alone.'

'What do you think, Leo?' asked Phoebe rhetorically.

'Leo, could I speak to you in private?' asked Paige.

Piper and Phoebe looked from Paige to Leo.

'It is about one of his charges, so it is confidential,' said Paige.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. 'I guess we will be hearing this more often now that we all know that you, Leo, are our white lighter and now that we have figured out that you, Paige, are part white lighter.'

Piper laughed.

* * *

Leo followed Paige into the kitchen. Once in the confines of the kitchen, Paige hugged Leo, whispering, 'Dad.'

'Dad?' whispered Leo. 'You are calling me that again?'

Paige released Leo and looked at him. She nodded.

'I guess we did not come in here to talk about a charge?' said Leo.

'Nope,' said Paige. 'I just… I cannot believe you almost… In all the years of you raising me you were never hit by a…'

'Paige, I am okay now,' said Leo.

'You very almost were not okay,' said Paige.

Leo smiled.

'Why are you smiling?' moaned Paige.

'I just want to remember this conversation,' said Leo.

'Why?' said Paige.

'The next time you start moaning at me about being too protective of you when dark lighters are around,' said Leo. 'Considering we know that their arrows affect you.'

'Great,' said Paige sarcastically. 'Add to the list of things that kill Paige Matthews.'

'Not Wyatt?' said Leo.

'Not in this house, especially because I can hear footsteps coming right this way,' said Paige.

As if on cue, the kitchen door opened. Prue came in with the Book of Shadows, followed by Piper and Phoebe.

'Sorry I took so long. I wanted to find the right page,' said Prue.

'We are not interrupting your confidential conversation, are we?' asked Piper.

'No. Paige told me what she needed to tell me,' said Leo.

Prue put the Book down and began to recite the spell.

'Do you think it worked?' asked Leo, when Prue had finished reciting it.

'Hmm…' said Prue, thinking. She began to walk out of the kitchen. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Leo followed Prue into the living room.

Prue gestured at a lamp. It went flying across the room.

Piper flicked her hands and the lamp froze.

'Mine and Piper's powers are working,' said Prue.

Phoebe frowned. 'I cannot force a premonition so I cannot test mine.'

Leo orbed to the other side of the room. 'Well, my powers are back.'

Paige tried to orb, but she could not. 'I don't know how to orb. Someone try to scare me.'

Prue gestured at the lamp and it went flying at Paige. The lamp hit Paige in the head.

'Ow,' said Paige.

'Do you not have your powers back?' said Piper.

'No. It is just the fact that lamps flying at me do not tend to scare me,' said Paige.

'Well, I was only trying,' said Prue.

'Then how can we tell? For all we know Phoebe still has Paige's powers, and Paige now has Phoebe's powers,' said Piper.

'Apologies in advance,' said Leo. He orbed out.

'Did they call him up there?' asked Piper irritably. 'Is this going to happen a lot now that I know his secret?'

'Probably,' said Paige. 'I hope they don't start jingling in my head when he tells them I am part white lighter.'

Suddenly the door burst open and a Wendigo burst into the living room.

Paige screamed and covered her eyes. A few seconds later, she heard Leo say, 'She definitely has gotten her white lighter powers back.'

Paige uncovered her eyes. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were staring at her. Leo was standing where the Wendigo had been moments before.

'I thought you apologised because they wanted you up there?' said Paige.

'No, I was apologising in advance for my plan to get you to orb,' said Leo.

'You glamoured into a Wendigo?' said Paige.

Leo nodded.

'That is just cruel,' said Paige. Then like a child wanting their parent to buy them a toy, she said, 'Please teach me to glamour.'

Leo chuckled. 'I will after I have spoken to the Elders.'

Paige grinned. 'Talking about speaking, does this mean I get to learn that clicky language you white lighters do too?'

* * *

**A/N:** So Paige knows, in fact everyone knows she is part white lighter. What does that leave? Oh, so at the moment, there is still the Paige is Leo's adopted daughter secret _and_ the fact that the Elders do not know who Paige's parents are, because Leo is keeping his promise to Piper by not telling the Elders that Paige is the Halliwells' sister. Plus, I know that in the original canon episode, Piper and Leo technically end their relationship here, but then in _Morality Bites _(Leo's next episode in the canon), they are technically together again. That is why I have left this episode with them together, so as it interconnects with their _Morality Bites_ relationship. Don't worry, Leo will still be in the next episode, even though he was not in it in the canon.

Before these are pointed out: Piper had Leo's power, but was still able to take part in the Power of Three spell. It's my fan fiction, and in this, the Power of Three connection does not switch with the powers. Also Piper had Leo's power, so was not technically a witch, so Prue should have frozen her in the bus station. Well, let's assume that Prue managed to focus the power on freezing everyone but her sisters, which would explain why Piper did not freeze.

Now to mention your reviews. I really did not think how obvious it was that Phoebe had Paige's powers, because it is easy to forget that the readers already know Paige is part white lighter. I was reading review after review for that chapter, not believing how many of you guessed it right.

Oh, oh! The season one finale is the next episode! Please review!


	55. Deja Vu All Over Again(And Bleep Orbing)

**A/N:** I cannot do too much writing for another few weeks, hence the slow down to updates once per week, but there are enough chapters to do a twice per week update now, hence this faster update.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. A couple needed responding to: _CharmedOpal_ – I would hate to start a fanfiction and not finish it, so if I ever stop, it would be at the end of one. Time will definitely tell for season two, lol. _Razmataz13drums_ – In my opinion, the Elders were not uneasy about finding out that she was half white lighter because in their view she is working for them anyway. I think they would only become uneasy about it when they find out who she is related to and therefore about her destiny.

This is a fun episode to write, but a lot of Piper's lines in the restaurant scene are from the original canon episode. You should be able to tell those apart from the rest of it.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Five: Déjà Vu All Over Again (And Bleep Orbing)**

It had been a week since everyone had found out that Paige was part white lighter. Leo had told the Elders and – like Leo had foreseen – they had agreed that Leo could train Paige to use her white lighter abilities. The Elders also agreed to give Paige her telepathy powers back, but only after Paige had mastered at least one of her white lighter abilities. Therefore Paige was still waiting on getting the telepathy power back.

'The easiest white lighter ability to master is orbing,' Leo said to Paige. 'So if you really want your telepathy powers back, we will focus on orbing for now.'

Paige had agreed.

Now that Piper and Leo were officially an item – and the 'Leo is your white lighter secret' no longer was a secret – Leo was practically living at the manor. He would often leave to go and help charges, or give Paige a few white lighter lessons, but other than that, he would hang around at the manor with Piper.

It was a Wednesday morning. Leo was due to give Paige some more orbing lessons that evening. Paige was able to orb on command now, but she was not able to orb from one place to another. She could only orb from and back to the same spot.

Paige stood in the attic. She closed her eyes and focused on a destination, somewhere simple, like the kitchen. She heard the noise of the bleeper in her pocket go off. She opened her eyes. She was still stood in the exact same position as before in the attic. However, she knew she had at least orbed because that is what the bleeper was for, as she could not necessarily tell herself when she orbed for that fraction of a second.

Paige sighed. She was not in a rush to get her telepathy powers back. That was not why she wanted to master her orbing power. She wanted to master her orbing power for the simple fact that she loved the idea of being able to go anywhere she liked within the blink of an eye – oops, that was a bad analogy considering warlock teleportation was blinking.

The Book of Shadows was out on a table in the attic. It caught the corner of Paige's eye. She went over to it.

'I wonder…' thought Paige. 'Could I..? Is there even such thing as a spell that could boost the speed of learning a power?'

Paige opened the Book of Shadows and began to flick through. Soon she found what she had been looking for: 'The Power Development Booster Spell'.

'Will this count as personal gain?' thought Paige. Then she shrugged and thought, 'Meh. Who cares if it is?'

Paige began to recite the spell:

'_Powers to develop I still require,_

_Give them a boost now before things become dire._

_For all those within the family in this time,_

_Will take on the effects of this rhyme._'

When Paige finished reading it, she smiled. By the sounds of the spell, not only would it develop her own powers, but it would also develop the powers of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

'They are going to be so grateful,' thought Paige, grinning to herself.

Paige closed her eyes and thought of a destination again: The kitchen. She heard the bleeper in her pocket go off, which meant she had orbed. She opened her eyes. She was still standing in the exact same spot in the attic. Paige frowned. Had the spell not worked?

'Crummy spell… Does not even work…' Paige muttered as she left the attic and headed downstairs.

* * *

As Paige got to the foyer, the front door was shutting. Paige continued into the living room to see Phoebe.

'Who just left?' asked Paige.

'Prue,' said Phoebe. 'She left to check on Andy.'

'Why?' asked Paige.

'I just had a premonition of him dying in the manor,' said Phoebe.

'What?' said Paige.

'Yeah, I know,' said Phoebe sombrely. 'We won't let that happen.'

'Of course we won't!' said Paige adamantly.

Phoebe nodded. 'I need to head off to Quake with a replacement dress for Piper.'

'Mind if I come with?' asked Paige cheerlessly. 'I have nothing better to do.'

'Sure,' said Phoebe. 'Paige, what's wrong? Orbing practice not going so well?'

Paige shrugged. 'It is going slowly. I can orb on command, I just cannot orb to a different destination.'

'Paige, you don't have to worry. You will get it soon,' said Phoebe.

Phoebe picked up Piper's dress.

'It is just annoying, Pheebs,' said Paige. 'I was able to do it all those months ago when I was sleep orbing. Why can I not do it now?'

'Paige, you just need to relax and get the hang of it,' said Phoebe.

Paige followed Phoebe into the foyer.

Phoebe sighed. 'Prue took her car. Piper took her car. Looks like the two of us have to walk to Quake.'

'If I could orb properly, we would not have to walk!' moaned Paige.

As they stepped out of the door, Phoebe tripped on the steps leading down to the path. However, she did not hit the ground. She was levitating. Phoebe dropped Piper's dress in surprise.

'What?' said Phoebe.

'Phoebe, get your feet back on the ground before anyone sees you!' said Paige, hoping that no neighbours would look out their window and see Phoebe floating mid-air.

'I don't know how to, Paige! I don't even know how or why I am doing this!' said Phoebe, slightly hysterical.

Paige pushed Phoebe – who remained mid-air – back indoors. Paige shut the door.

Phoebe flapped her arms in an attempt to get her feet back on the ground, but she could not. Paige took Phoebe's arm and pulled her to the ground. As Phoebe's feet touched the ground, she grabbed hold of the sofa.

'Do you think I finally got an active power?' Phoebe asked Paige.

'A power development?' muttered Paige. 'So the spell did work?'

'Spell? What spell?' said Phoebe.

'Er, well, I may have cast a little teensy weensy spell to boost our powers,' said Paige. 'So why can I not orb?'

'Paige!' said Phoebe. 'What about personal gain?'

'Personal gain? Since when do you care about personal gain? Besides, Pheebs, you should be happy that you finally have an active power,' said Paige. 'I thought you would be delighted that I cast such a spell.'

'Delighted? _Delighted?_ Paige, I had a premonition that Andy dies in our living room! Now is not a good time to be experimenting with powers and spells!' shouted Phoebe.

'Well, I did not know Andy was going to die, did I?' shouted Paige.

'He is not going to die!' said Phoebe.

'You know what I meant,' said Paige.

Phoebe nodded and took a deep breath to calm down. 'We need to get this dress to – the dress is outside, isn't it? We need to get that dress to Quake for Piper, but we have no car. I don't know how safe we are with walking, because I could end up levitating mid-stride.'

'Well, I cannot orb us there,' said Paige. Then Paige added with a smile, 'You could always fly us there.'

Phoebe glared at Paige, and said sarcastically, 'Yeah because that is such a smart thing to do in broad day light.'

Paige frowned. 'Since when did you start acting as serious as Prue.'

Phoebe grimaced. 'Paige, I am not acting like Prue. It is just… This is a serious situation… with my premonition and all.'

Paige nodded. Inside she was jealous that the spell had given Phoebe a transportation type power development, yet the spell had not bothered to develop Paige's orbing ability.

'Leo could always take us there,' said Phoebe with a smile.

Paige laughed. There was that immature side of Phoebe that had been lacking a few minutes before.

'Yeah, but for something non-demonic? I don't think he will be too pleased about that,' said Paige.

'Yeah, but he may be willing to break the rules as it will give him an excuse to see Piper,' said Phoebe.

'He sees her everyday,' pointed out Paige.

'Yes, but he was forced to leave earlier this morning for one of his charges,' said Phoebe. 'Trust me, he will be happy to have the excuse.'

Paige shrugged.

'Leo!' called Phoebe. 'Leo!'

Leo orbed in.

'Is everything okay?' asked Leo.

'Everything is peachy,' said Phoebe. 'Is your charge safe now?'

'Yeah. He needed some healing. I was just keeping him company until his family showed up,' said Leo. 'Why did you call me if everything is fine?'

'Well, Piper actually needs our help, but we have no way of getting to her,' said Phoebe. 'We have no car and cannot walk it without magical exposure, so we need you to orb us to Quake.'

Leo nodded. He took Phoebe and Paige's hands.

'Wait!' said Paige, letting go of Leo's hand. 'It is outside the manor still! We need the dress!'

As Paige said the word 'dress', it appeared in her hands in a flurry of orbs.

'Looks like the power development spell had an effect on you too,' said Phoebe.

'I feel like I should ask about that, but at the same time, I guess I don't want to know about any personal gain spells that have gone awry,' said Leo.

'Good idea, Leo. It definitely is best not to ask,' said Phoebe.

Leo took Phoebe and Paige's hands again. They orbed into the empty alley behind Quake.

'So what demon is attacking at Quake?' Leo asked as the three of them ran around to the front entrance of Quake.

'Not a demon, per say,' said Phoebe. 'It is more like a marinara stain emergency.'

'What?' said Leo angrily as the three of them entered the restaurant.

Before Leo could say anything more, Piper had spotted the three of them.

'Over here!' said Piper.

Leo approached Piper and gave her a kiss.

'It was nice of you to come to my rescue,' said Piper to Leo.

'Well someone had to get your dress here,' said Leo, smiling.

Phoebe and Paige rolled their eyes.

When Piper and Leo had finished greeting one another, Paige handed Piper her dress.

'Thank you!' Piper said. 'The segment producer is going to be here any minute and I am a complete and total wreck.'

An image of Derek flashed in Paige's mind when she heard the word 'wreck' mentioned. She quickly tried to think of something – anything – else.

Phoebe started explaining to Piper about her premonition. This was the first Leo had heard of this too, so he listened just as intently as Piper.

'Where's Prue?' asked Piper.

'Warning him,' said Phoebe.

'I can keep my eye on him if you like,' said Leo.

'You can? Please do that,' said Phoebe.

Leo nodded. He turned to Piper and said, 'I will see you another time.' Piper and Leo kissed. Then Leo turned to Phoebe and Paige and said, 'Bye. I will make sure that Andy is not harmed.'

'Thank you,' said Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.

Leo walked off into the men's restroom, presumably to orb out within there.

A woman had approached Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. Piper pushed Phoebe in front of her dress stain so as the woman could not see it.

'Piper? Piper Halliwell?' asked the woman.

It turned out that the woman was the segment producer and someone – Joanne Hertz – that Piper had known in high school. Joanne began boasting about her amazing life in New York, her amazing career, and how much better than Piper she was.

'Anyway, enough about me, what have you been doing, Piper?' asked Joanne.

Piper flicked her hands up to freeze the room. However, a camera exploded instead. Everyone jumped in surprise, including Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. Luckily, as Paige had her orbing under control, the fright did not cause her to orb – at least the bleeper in her pocket had not gone off, so she knew she definitely had not orbed.

'Must have been some faulty wiring,' said Joanne.

Phoebe was already ushering Piper and Paige across the restaurant towards the kitchen. Once in the empty kitchen, Phoebe looked from Piper to Paige.

'What happened there?' asked Phoebe.

'I was supposed to freeze Joanne,' said Piper slowly. 'I wanted to freeze her so as I could get your advice on how to answer her question without revealing to her that my life is pathetic.'

'Piper, you are not pathetic!' said Paige.

'Yes, yes I am. I am a cash-strapped restaurant manager, who still lives in the same house that I grew up in with my sisters,' said Piper. She flailed her hands around as she said this. A pile of plates exploded.

'Whoa! Piper, please keep your hands down and by your sides!' said Paige.

'Number one: You have Leo to flaunt, even if he had to leave before she got here,' said Phoebe, ignoring Piper's new power development for now. 'Number two: I am a cash-strapped, unemployed twenty something year old, who still lives in the same house that I grew up in with my sisters. If you are pathetic, what does that make me?'

'Do you really want me to answer that?' said Piper, smiling weakly.

'Should we get onto the other issue at hand?' asked Paige.

'You mean the fact that I am somehow making things explode now?' asked Piper.

'Not that,' said Phoebe. 'We know why that is.'

'We do?' said Piper.

'Ask Paige later,' said Phoebe. 'It's her spell.'

Piper looked at Paige quizzically.

Changing the subject back to 'the other issue', Paige said, 'Look, we need to think about finding the demon that is after Andy.'

'Hence we need you to get back out there and shoot your segment,' said Phoebe, pushing Piper back out into the main restaurant.

Phoebe remained in the kitchen, blocking Paige's exit. Phoebe looked at Paige and sighed.

'Paige, your spell has given me a future power. It has obviously also given you some strange mix between telekinesis and orbing. It also looks like Piper has been given a future power. We need to check on Prue, because she will most probably have a new power too,' said Phoebe.

Paige nodded. 'Phoebe, I am sorry, okay? I still do not see what is so wrong with having these new powers.'

'It is just the timing,' said Phoebe. 'Bad bad timing.'

* * *

Once the filming at Quake was over, Piper drove Phoebe and Paige home. Paige was forced to explain to Piper about the 'Power Development Booster Spell' that she had cast. Piper took the news just as badly as Phoebe had.

Prue's car was in the drive when Piper pulled up. On entering the manor, Prue called them into the kitchen.

'I spoke to Andy,' said Prue, when they had all entered the kitchen. 'We may have found our demon already.'

'Who?' said Piper.

'How?' said Phoebe.

'When?' said Paige.

'Who? One of the internal affairs investigators, Rodriguez,' said Prue. 'How? Andy and I believe he could be a demon because he knows everything about our magical secret. When? When what, Paige?'

'I don't know,' laughed Paige. 'I just felt inclined to add a question because Piper and Phoebe had.'

'Well, I told Andy to tell Rodriguez to meet us here at six,' said Prue.

'See! See! There is your 'when' right there! My question was not so irrelevant after all,' laughed Paige.

'Why are you being so perky?' asked Prue.

'She is trying to avoid us bringing up something else,' said Piper.

'She does not need to know about that, _please_,' said Paige.

'She kind of does,' said Piper. 'It affects her too.'

'Sorry, Paige. She has to know,' said Phoebe.

'Know what?' asked Prue.

'Have you noticed anything strange going on today?' asked Phoebe.

'When have we had an ordinary day since we became witches?' asked Prue. 'Besides, I think your premonition about Andy falls within the 'strange' category.'

'Prue, I can blow things up now,' said Piper.

'Prue, I can levitate now,' said Phoebe.

'Prue, I can telekinetically orb stuff now,' said Paige. With the funny looks she received, Paige added, 'What? I had to give it a name!'

'Are you being serious? Why? How?' asked Prue.

'Ask Paige,' said Piper and Phoebe together.

Paige explained the spell she had cast and her reasons for casting it.

'Personal gain, Paige?' said Prue. Then she added, 'So does this mean I could have some sort of power development too?'

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige nodded.

'Hmm… This could be a good thing,' said Prue.

'Finally! One sister agrees that this spell could be a good thing!' said Paige. 'Though not the sister I was expecting…'

'Prue, how could this possibly be a good thing?' asked Piper.

'Well, sure new powers are difficult to master, but they help in the overall fight against evil,' said Prue. 'Talking of which, we need to go over a plan before Rodriguez gets here.'

* * *

It was getting close to six o'clock. The sisters had re-congregated in the foyer.

'Okay, let's go over the plan again,' said Prue.

'Yeah, let's because I want to know why I am the one answering the door,' said Phoebe.

'You are the one who knows martial arts. That way if Rodriguez tries something right off the bat, you can knock him down,' explained Prue.

Phoebe made a face. She was not happy with the explanation or the plan.

'And then I come in from the living room and freeze him,' said Piper.

'Do you think you can do that?' asked Paige.

Piper had been in the basement all afternoon, practicing to differentiate between using her freezing power and her explosion power.

'I don't think we will have to worry if I end up blowing him up instead of freezing him,' said Piper.

'Fair point,' said Paige.

'And then I come down the stairs and send him flying – if Piper has not already blown him up,' said Prue.

'And then I come in from the kitchen and telekinetically orb some rope around him, so as we can interrogate him,' said Paige.

'I still feel like cannon fodder,' grumbled Phoebe.

'Aaww, lighten up, Pheebs,' said Paige.

Prue frowned.

'What's wrong, Prue?' asked Piper

'I can sense something… Something bad is about to happen…' said Prue. 'Something really bad.'

'Power development?' suggested Phoebe.

'It must be,' said Paige.

Just then the doorbell rang. Rodriguez was early and by the number of times the door bell rang, he was anxious to gain entry.

Slowly, each of the sisters took their places in the different rooms of the manor. Paige had a good view of the foyer from the kitchen. She watched as Phoebe opened the front door. Rodriguez entered and spoke to Phoebe about being there to see Prue.

'Yeah, no kidding,' said Phoebe. 'Prue! Piper! Paige! Company!'

Paige gasped as she saw Rodriguez's eyes glow red. He threw Phoebe across the foyer into the wall. Paige ran into the foyer. Rodriguez turned to attack Piper, who had left the living room. Piper flicked her hands up at Rodriguez. Instead of freezing Rodriguez, she blew him up.

'Phoebe!' shouted Prue, who was running down the stairs.

Prue, Piper, and Paige gathered around Phoebe's limp body.

'Phoebe,' said Piper. She was in tears.

'Oh no,' said Paige in shock.

'She is not breathing,' said Prue distraught.

'Leo!' Paige shouted. 'Leo!'

'Leo!' shouted Piper.

'Leo!' shouted Prue.

Leo orbed in.

'What's wrong? I made sure that Andy staid away. He is safe…' Leo trailed off when he noticed Phoebe on the floor. 'Oh no.'

Leo got down on his knees and tried to heal Phoebe. Nothing happened.

'I am so sorry,' said Leo. 'Phoebe is dead.'

* * *

**A/N:** What a wonderful note to end this chapter on. Although if you remember the original canon episode, you would know that this is not actually a cliff hanger ending to a chapter. As far as their power developments in this chapter go: Piper and Phoebe both received future powers that you should recognise. Paige received telekinetic orbing because technically that will be a future development to her powers. Prue received sensing because if you watch _All Hell Breaks Loose_, she can sense whenever Shax is about to show up. This could have been a possible power development for Prue if she had lived past that episode. Please review!


	56. Deja Vu All Over Again (And Duck)

**A/N:** There will be some slight repetition here from the previous chapter, but thanks to Phoebe it will be different, don't worry. There is no way that I will let this become so repetitive that it is boring.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Six: Déjà Vu All Over Again (And Duck)**

It was a Wednesday morning. Paige was standing over the Book of Shadows, looking at the spell she had just found: 'The Power Development Booster Spell'.

'Will this count as personal gain?' thought Paige. Then she shrugged and thought, 'Meh. Who cares if it is?'

Paige began to recite the spell:

'_Powers to develop I still require,_

_Give them a boost now before things become dire._

_For all those within the family in this time,_

_Will take on the effects of this rhyme._'

When Paige finished reading it, she smiled. By the sounds of the spell, not only would it develop her own powers, but it would also develop the powers of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe.

'They are going to be so grateful,' thought Paige, grinning to herself.

* * *

After finding out that her spell may not have been so successful after all, because she had been unable to orb, Paige went downstairs. The front door was closing just as Paige reached the foyer.

Phoebe ran out of the living room and confronted Paige.

'Prue just left,' said Phoebe.

'How did you know I was going to ask that?' asked Paige.

'I seem to be getting _a lot_ of déjà vu today,' said Phoebe.

'Okay…' said Paige, thinking that Phoebe must have hit her head or something that morning.

'Paige, the least you could do is believe me,' said Phoebe.

'I am sorry, Phoebe,' said Paige, putting on an apologetic expression, even though on the inside she did not mean it at all. She was too annoyed with the spell for not working to feel sorry for Phoebe.

Phoebe made a face. 'You are not sorry at all.'

'Yes I am,' said Paige. This made Paige a little nervous. How did Phoebe know that?

'Why are you getting all nervous now?' asked Phoebe.

'How do you know that?' asked Paige, stepping back slightly.

'I don't know…' said Phoebe. Then changing the subject back to her déjà vu issue, Phoebe said, 'I had a premonition that I swear I have had before: Andy is going to be killed in the manor.'

'What?' said Paige.

'I feel exactly how you feel,' said Phoebe.

'How do you know how I feel?' asked Paige.

'I don't know…' said Phoebe. 'Anyway, we cannot let that happen to Andy.'

'Of course we won't!' said Paige adamantly.

'I swear you have said that before,' said Phoebe. 'I need to head off to Quake with a replacement dress for Piper.' Then Phoebe quickly added, 'Yes, you can come with.'

Phoebe picked up Piper's dress. Paige followed Phoebe into the foyer. They opened the door and saw the empty driveway.

Phoebe sighed. 'Prue took her car. Piper took her car…' She trailed off. 'I swear I have said that before. Paige, are you sure you do not remember doing this day before?'

'I think I would remember if I had cast that spell before…' mumbled Paige.

'Excuse me?' said Phoebe, who had overheard her.

'Nothing,' said Paige.

'Paige, I can tell that you are lying,' said Phoebe.

Paige stared at Phoebe. How could she tell what Paige was feeling, unless…

'Oh, the spell did work!' said Paige in awe.

'Spell? What spell?' said Phoebe. She put the dress down while she listened to Paige's response.

'Er, well, I may have cast a little teensy weensy spell to boost our powers,' said Paige. 'So why can I not orb?'

'Paige! I would rant at you about personal gain, but I swear this day has happened before…' said Phoebe.

'I don't know why you are having massive déjà vu, but it looks like my spell gave you a power development!' said Paige. 'You seem to be showing signs of empathy power. I read a lot about different powers when I was growing up, because I always wanted one. Empathy was one which I definitely never wanted to get. Looks like it will be a future power of yours.'

'Paige, I had a premonition that Andy dies in our living room! Now is not a good time to be experimenting with powers and spells!' shouted Phoebe.

'Well, I did not know Andy was going to die, did I?' shouted Paige.

'He is not going to die!' said Phoebe.

'You know what I meant,' said Paige.

* * *

Phoebe and Paige left the manor and walked to Quake. When they got to the front entrance of Quake, Phoebe realised that she had forgotten to bring the dress.

'Are you sure you cannot orb back home and get it?' Phoebe asked Paige.

'The spell did not affect my orbing ability,' said Paige. 'I don't know which power of mine it affected, but it was not that one.'

Phoebe suddenly had some recognition on her face. 'Call for the dress!'

'Huh?' said Paige.

'Just do it,' said Phoebe. 'Picture the dress, hold your hand out, and call for it.'

'Dress?' said Paige, unsure of what Phoebe was getting at. Suddenly the dress appeared in Paige's hand in a flurry of orbs. Paige's eyes widened in shock.

'Paige, please do not get all anxious,' said Phoebe. 'I can feel it too, and the last thing I need right now is anxiety when we have the possibility of a family friend getting killed.'

Paige nodded slowly. 'How did you know though?'

'I told you. I am sure this day has happened before,' said Phoebe.

Phoebe and Paige entered Quake. They gave Piper her dress. Phoebe explained everything about her premonition. Then a woman entered Quake and started talking to Piper. Phoebe seemed to know a lot about the woman – Joanne Hertz. Piper and Paige exchanged looks. How did Phoebe know all of this?

After multiple freezings and a lengthy explanation from Phoebe, Piper believed Phoebe's premise that this day could have happened before. Paige nodded along with everything. Phoebe also told Piper about her premonition, which led to Piper following them out of Quake. Finding the demon was more important than being in the segment.

* * *

Piper was driving Phoebe and Paige home.

'Piper, can you try and not be so tense,' said Phoebe. 'I cannot think straight.'

'Me? Tense? I am not tense,' said Piper.

'Piper, you cannot deny it,' said Paige. 'Phoebe has the power of empathy.'

'Phoebe has a new power?' said Piper.

'Yes I do,' said Phoebe. 'Thanks to Paige. Paige has a new power too. Telekinetic orbing.'

'How did you know I was going to call it that?' asked Paige.

'You named it that yesterday – I mean, today – I mean, the last time that this day happened,' said Phoebe.

'Er, why do you two suddenly have new powers?' asked Piper.

'Paige cast a spell,' said Phoebe. 'Don't have a rant at her about it though, because I swear we both already ranted at her about it yester – I mean, when this day last happened.'

'If the spell has worked on me and Phoebe, it should have worked on you and Prue, Piper,' said Paige. She turned to Phoebe, and added, 'Do you remember what happened last time I cast this spell? What powers did Prue and Piper get?'

'I don't know, Paige,' said Phoebe. 'I keep getting déjà vu moments every now and then. I don't actually remember the day that has already happened.'

'Oh okay,' said Paige.

'So basically I should be on the look out for a new power?' said Piper, worrying.

'Piper, you are making me worry,' said Phoebe.

'Pheebs, I cannot help it,' said Piper.

* * *

Piper parked on the drive when they arrived at the manor. Prue's car was not there, which meant she was not back yet. They had suspected that considering they had left Quake quite early as Piper had decided to ditch the filming.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige ran straight upstairs to the attic. They started looking through the Book of Shadows.

Leo orbed into the attic.

'Hi,' said Leo.

Piper kissed Leo. He kissed her back.

'Sorry for having to leave so early this morning,' Leo said. 'I am free now though.'

'Unfortunately I am not free,' said Piper.

'What's wrong?' asked Leo.

'Phoebe had a premonition. Andy is going to be killed by a demon,' said Piper. 'We are going to try and find the demon before that can happen.'

There was a crash from outside. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige all jumped in fright. Paige's bleeper went off, implying that she had just orbed out and back to the same spot without noticing. When Paige saw Leo, she turned to Piper.

'Piper, did you accidentally freeze Leo?' asked Paige.

'Oops,' said Piper. 'The noise outside kind of scared me. I did not freeze him on purpose.'

'Er, Piper, Paige, you may want to come and see this,' said Phoebe.

Phoebe was standing at the window, looking outside onto the street. Piper and Paige went over to the window. Outside, the whole street was frozen. A car had crashed into another car just outside the manor. The angry driver was frozen in the middle of getting out of his car. Bystanders were all frozen too. Even a bird that had been flying past the window was frozen.

'Prescott Street is home to many car crashes today,' said Phoebe. Then she added, 'I think the spell has developed Piper's freezing power.'

'Oops,' said Paige innocently. 'Well, at least it means you don't have to be in the same room as the thing you freeze anymore, Piper.'

'Paige!' said Phoebe angrily. 'This is no time to joke!'

'Sorry, Pheebs,' said Paige. 'Why are you angry at me? It should be Piper who is angry.'

'Actually, it is me that is angry,' said Piper. 'I have a feeling that Phoebe was channelling my anger just then.'

'You got it in one, sis,' said Phoebe.

Piper flicked her hands and Leo unfroze. The noise from the street below also returned.

Leo frowned, not noticing that the sisters had moved around in the blink of an eye. 'Do you want me to go and keep my eye on Andy for you?'

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige nodded, thinking it best not to mention Piper's power boost.

'See you after this is all over,' said Leo.

Leo orbed out.

Prue suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the attic. She looked confused.

'What am I doing here?' asked Prue.

'How?' said Piper.

'That is my line. You said 'Who?' last time this day happened. Oh hang on, we are not at that conversation yet…' said Phoebe.

'I don't know how,' said Prue. 'One minute I am at the park, talking to Andy. We realise who the demon is…'

'Who?' said Piper.

'See this is where I say 'How?' and then Paige says 'When?' just to feel involved,' said Phoebe.

'Hey! Now who is stealing other people's lines,' said Paige.

'Can we get back to the point?' said Prue. 'One minute I am at the park, talking to Andy. We realise who the demon is… Rodriguez, an internal affairs investigator. Then Andy tells me that Rodriguez wants to meet us. Then I was thinking I need to talk to you three, and I suddenly found myself here…'

'You astral projected,' said Paige. 'I used to read a book that listed all known powers. That was one of them.'

'So Prue's power development is astral projection?' said Phoebe. 'No fair. Why could I not get that one?'

'You think that is unfair? Prue gets a power development that technically counts as a method of temporary transportation, yet I could not get the spell to boost my orbing power!' shouted Paige.

'Spell?' said Prue. 'What spell?'

'Prue, just go back and tell Andy to ask Rodriguez to get here at six,' said Piper. 'We will explain everything and come up with a plan when you get home… physically rather than astrally.'

Prue nodded. Her astral form disappeared.

* * *

When Prue eventually got home, they began to discuss a plan. They took the Book of Shadows into the foyer and started looking for information about time loops.

The door bell rang. All four sisters looked at the clock. It was just before six. Rodriguez was early.

Rodriguez burst through the door and threw an energy ball at Phoebe.

'Phoebe, duck!' shouted Paige. A live and quacking duck appeared in Paige's hands in a flurry of orbs.

Phoebe did not duck in time. The energy ball hit her and she went flying.

'Phoebe!' shouted Piper.

Rodriguez threw an energy ball at Piper. He was too fast for her. She went flying through the glass door.

Rodriguez grinned evilly at Prue and Paige. He produced an energy ball in each hand. He threw one at Prue and the other at Paige, simultaneously. Paige was still holding the duck, but luckily telekinetic orbing did not require her hands. Paige shouted 'Energy ball' at the one heading towards her. In a flurry of orbs, it changed direction, heading back towards Rodriguez. Prue used her telekinesis to redirect the energy ball that had been sent at her back towards Rodriguez. Both energy balls hit Rodriguez at the same time. He burst into flames.

Prue ran through the broken glass over to Piper. Paige heard Prue shout Piper's name in between tears. Paige dropped the duck to the ground and went over to Phoebe's lifeless body.

'Phoebe,' said Paige.

Prue slowly came over to Paige and helped her to her feet. Prue was crying and so was Paige.

'Leo,' said Paige. 'We can call for him.'

Prue shook her head. 'Piper, she is already dead…'

Paige choked a little amongst her tears. 'She can't be.'

'Is Phoebe..?' began Prue.

'I could not find a pulse,' said Paige.

Prue and Paige hugged. They were both crying.

Paige wiped her eyes. 'We have to call for him. They might only be on the brink. He may still be able to heal them.'

Prue swallowed her tears and nodded. 'Leo,' Prue said weakly.

'Leo!' said Paige.

Leo orbed in.

'What's wrong? I made sure that Andy staid away. He is safe…' Leo trailed off when he noticed Phoebe on the floor. 'Oh no.'

Leo got down on his knees and tried to heal Phoebe. Nothing happened.

'I am so sorry. Phoebe is dead,' said Leo, looking at Prue and Paige. Then Leo noticed something, and hesitantly asked, 'Where… Where is Piper?' From the expression on his face, Paige could tell that Leo already knew what the answer was going to be.

Prue and Paige looked over at the glass debris. Leo must have followed their line of sight because he suddenly ran over to where Piper lay. He knelt down beside her and held his hands over her, however nothing happened. Leo burst into tears.

'No! Piper!' said Leo, between his tears. He held Piper's limp body in his hands.

Prue and Paige stood back, silently crying for the loss of their two sisters.

'Quack!' said the duck, waddling past them, unaware of the ominous presence of death within the manor.

* * *

**A/N:** I am really enjoying writing this episode. Oh, and as to the duck: ever since I heard Paige tell someone – it may have been her charge – to duck in a season eight episode, I have wondered whether shouting 'duck' instead of 'get down' is a good idea considering her power, so I could not wait to have the chance to take the mick. As to the power developments in this chapter: Prue got astral projection which we all know is a future power. Piper got a well developed version of her molecular immobilisation power – I was going for the _Morality Bites_ version of it. Phoebe got empathy, a future power, which was extremely hard to write in and I hope never to have to write her with empathy again. And Paige, well I just gave her telekinetic orbing again, because I wanted to get the 'duck' moment into it. Considering I have noticed that I am doing each repeated day chapter by chapter, there may be only one more chapter to go before this season finishes. Please review!


	57. Deja Vu All Over Again (And Four Thirds)

**A/N:** I am relatively sure that when I do start season two I will have it as a new story rather than add more chapters to this one, so keep an eye out for the new story. Now it is time to finish season one… Dun dun dun!

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Seven: Déjà Vu All Over Again (And Four Thirds)**

'_Powers to develop I still require,_

_Give them a boost now before things become dire._

_For all those within the family in this time,_

_Will take on the effects of this rhyme._'

Just as Paige finished reciting the spell, Phoebe came running into the attic, dragging Prue along behind her.

'Paige, do not say the spell!' said Phoebe adamantly.

'Too late,' said Paige. 'Hang on. How did you know I was casting a spell? Premonition?'

Phoebe shook her head. 'This has all happened before. I don't know how many times before, but it has happened before.'

'Prue, did she hit her head this morning?' Paige asked Prue.

'However strange this all sounds, I think I believe her,' said Prue. 'What spell are the two of you on about?'

'Never mind that right now, Prue. You need to go and warn Andy,' said Phoebe.

'Warn Andy about what?' asked Paige.

'What spell?' asked Prue.

'Paige, Andy is going to get killed by a demon,' said Phoebe. 'Prue, Paige cast a spell to develop our powers, so if you notice any changes in your powers, don't freak out. There is no time to have a rant about personal gain. Go and talk to Andy!'

Prue nodded and left the attic.

Phoebe turned to Paige. 'I was hoping to get to you before you cast the spell.'

'Do you know whether the spell worked the last time this day happened?' asked Paige.

'I don't know,' said Phoebe.

'Well then, let's test it,' said Paige.

Paige closed her eyes. She thought of a destination: The kitchen. She heard the bleeper in her pocket go off, which meant she had orbed. She opened her eyes. Paige grinned. She was standing in the kitchen.

'It worked!' squealed Paige happily.

Phoebe came running into the kitchen.

'I wondered where you had orbed off to,' said Phoebe, panting for breath.

'The spell worked,' said Paige. 'I can orb anywhere I want. Hey, should I orb us to Quake? Piper needs to know about your premonition.'

'I already spoke to Piper on the phone,' said Phoebe. 'She is on her way back.'

'Oh,' said Paige, a little disappointed that she had nowhere important to orb to. 'Hang on, I can always orb to Piper's car and then orb her here. It will be faster.'

Before Phoebe could protest, Paige had orbed out. Paige reappeared in the passenger seat of Piper's car. At the shock of it all, Piper skidded almost crashing into a wall.

'Paige!' shouted Piper. 'What are you do – Did you just successfully orb?'

Paige smiled. 'Yeah. Thanks to a spell. If I understood the spell correctly, you, Prue, and Phoebe should be getting developments in your powers too.'

Piper grimaced. 'That could be bad.'

'It will be fine, Piper,' said Paige. 'What's the worst that can happen?'

'Don't say that! Whenever someone says that: something bad happens,' said Piper.

Paige rolled her eyes. 'Piper, don't be such a pessimi –'

The steering wheel exploded under Piper's grip. The car went skidding again. Piper stepped on the brakes, but there was no way to change the direction of the car.

When the car finally came to a stop, Piper turned to look at Paige, and said, 'I told you so. Something bad _always_ happens when someone says that.'

Paige blushed. 'Anyway now that there is no way of getting home by car, would you like me to orb you there?'

Piper went to take Paige's hand. Paige avoided it.

'Keep your hands to your sides, Piper,' said Paige. 'I don't want you blowing my arm up.'

Paige put her hand on Piper's shoulder and orbed them back to the manor.

* * *

'Where did you leave the car?' Phoebe asked when she saw Piper and Paige appear.

'Somewhere in the middle of Fifth Avenue,' said Piper.

'Yeah, Piper blew up the steering wheel,' said Paige. 'It looks like her power development is supposed to be some sort of explosion power.'

'Ugh,' groaned Phoebe.

'What?' asked Piper and Paige.

'I have heard Paige's explanation at least six times now,' said Phoebe. 'I guess you want to know what spell Paige cast, Piper?'

'She already told me about it in the car, before I blew up the steering wheel,' said Piper.

'Phew,' said Phoebe. 'I really did not want to hear that explanation again. That explanation seems to bore me more and more each time I hear it, even if I do not remember it each time the day repeats.'

'If you know so much, then what's your power development?' said Paige.

'I don't know… Nothing is clear to me from the other times that this day has happened, but I am pretty sure that your spell has worked differently for our powers each time… Although I am sure I remember Piper getting that explosion power before…' said Phoebe.

'Okay…' said Paige. 'Get Leo and explain everything to him. He may be able to help.'

'Can't you get him?' asked Piper.

'Nope, I am going to see if Prue is finished warning Andy and bring her back here,' said Paige.

'We are going to end up with our cars sprawled all across San Francisco today,' sighed Piper.

'I thought that was quite a common occurrence in this family,' laughed Phoebe.

'Phoebe, do you know where Prue is? Should I be going to the police station?' asked Paige.

'Try the park… I seem to have a memory of her mentioning talking to him there…' said Phoebe.

Paige nodded and orbed out. She had orbed to the park. Paige could see the back of two figures standing by a tree. Paige approached them slowly. They had not seen her as she was coming up from behind them. However, she did not want to interrupt them if they were having a heart to heart.

Paige stopped at a nearby tree. She was close enough to hear their conversation, but far away enough to be obscured from their line of sight by the tree.

'I mean it. This is not your fight. Don't make me use my magic on you. Andy, I would die if anything happened to you. I love you,' said Prue.

'I love you too,' said Andy.

Prue and Andy hugged. Prue was about to leave, but Andy stopped her. Andy got down on one knee and took Prue's hand. He produced a small box from his jacket pocket and opened it.

'Prue Halliwell, will you marry me?' Andy asked.

Paige's jaw dropped. She had not been expecting this at all. Neither had Prue by the looks of it.

'Andy,' said Prue. 'This is so unexpected.'

'You don't want to marry me?' said Andy. He was still down on one knee.

'Of course I do,' said Prue. 'It's just… With all that has happened today… Phoebe's premonition… Rodriguez being a demon that is after us…'

'Prue, quite honestly, the events of today seem quite ordinary in the Halliwell lifestyle,' said Andy.

'Which is why I would never want to get you involved in it,' said Prue.

'Prue, I have been involved ever since I came back to San Francisco and was reunited with you,' said Andy. 'I think I can handle your lifestyle.'

Prue was welling up. 'Andy, yes. Yes, I will marry you.'

Andy tried to put the engagement ring on Prue's finger, but she stopped him.

'Not now,' said Prue. 'We will only announce our engagement if everyone survives today. If one of us – 'us' includes you, me, and my sisters – does not make it then we can never mention this again.'

'Prue, we will all make it,' said Andy. 'No one is going to die, and you and I will get married.'

Prue took the ring box and put it in her purse. Andy stood up. She and Andy kissed.

'I will see you after the vanquish,' said Prue.

'I love you, Mrs. Trudeau,' said Andy.

'Mrs. Halliwell,' corrected Prue with a smile.

Andy chuckled.

Prue and Andy parted ways.

Paige noticed that Prue was walking away from her. The park was relatively empty, so Paige orbed directly into Prue's path.

'Hey Prue,' said Paige.

'Paige! You could have exposed magic!' shouted Prue.

'I was careful,' said Paige.

Paige was unsure as to whether or not to bring up what she had just witnessed. However, the fact that Prue wanted it kept a secret until after Rodriguez's vanquish made Paige stay quiet on the matter. Plus Paige did not want Prue to know that Paige had witnessed – eavesdropped on – the proposal.

'I need to orb you home,' said Paige. 'We need to come up with a plan fast.'

Prue nodded. She swept her hand upwards to take Paige's hand. This gesture caused Paige to go flying into the nearest pond which was actually quite far away. Paige orbed out of the pond back to Prue's side. Paige was extremely wet.

'I am so sorry, Paige,' said Prue guiltily.

'That's okay,' said Paige. 'I guess your power development is an extremely powerful version of telekinesis.'

Paige took Prue's hand and orbed them back to the manor.

* * *

Piper, Phoebe, and Leo were in the living room, surrounding the Book of Shadows. They looked up when Prue and Paige entered.

'Paige, why are you soaked?' asked Leo.

'No reason, except for Prue's power development,' said Paige.

'Power development? Is this the spell that you were talking about, Piper?' asked Leo.

Piper nodded.

'You told him?' Paige asked Piper.

'Yes, it came up in conversation,' said Piper.

'Thanks. I don't think I could have taken trying to explain it _again_,' said Paige, relieved.

'Paige, you only remember explaining it today, and that has only been once to Piper, because we made Prue accept it,' said Phoebe. 'I remember each time that this day has happened. I have had to listen to the explanation at least seven times now, so please do not complain about having to explain it – I should be the one complaining!'

'Are you okay, Pheebs?' asked Prue, noting the tension.

'I think she is a little anxious about the impending battle,' said Leo.

'I think she is also a little upset that her power development has not shown up yet,' said Piper.

'Shut up, Piper,' said Phoebe grumpily.

'Anyway, I spoke to Andy and he will tell Rodriguez to get here for –' Prue began but was interrupted by Phoebe.

'Six o'clock, I know. That has staid the same each time,' said Phoebe.

'Well, I guess if you remembered Rodriguez was the demon it makes sense for you to remember the six o'clock part too,' said Prue.

'Do you four want me to go and keep my eye on Andy?' asked Leo. 'I can make sure that he stays safe.'

Prue, Piper, and Paige all said, 'Yes.' However, Phoebe said, 'No!'

All eyes turned on Phoebe for an explanation.

'Things have ended badly for us each time. You have not been present each time, because you have been keeping an eye on Andy. I think if you stay close by you are more likely to heal any injuries faster,' said Phoebe.

Piper, Paige, and Leo all nodded in understanding.

Prue frowned, glaring at Phoebe. 'Phoebe, each time may have ended badly for us, but I assume Andy survived because Leo was looking out for him. I don't care about us. I care about Andy.'

'I understand that, Prue, I really do, but we cannot defeat this demon if we do not survive this,' said Phoebe.

'How do we vanquish Rodriguez then?' asked Prue, not dropping her glare.

'We don't. Each time he has been vanquished, time has reversed. We need to find and vanquish the demon that keeps reversing time,' said Phoebe.

'I told you that you won't be able to find Tempus, Phoebe,' said Leo. 'He is an upper-level demon. It is nearly impossible to find and vanquish him.'

'What does the Book say about vanquishing him?' asked Prue.

'Take him out of the time that he is in,' said Phoebe. 'Don't ask me what that is supposed to mean.'

Suddenly the door burst open. Rodriguez threw an energy ball at Prue. Leo pushed Prue to the ground, orbing her out of the foyer at the same time.

Andy came running in. Rodriguez threw an energy ball at Andy. Paige orbed over to Andy, grabbed his arm, and orbed him out of the foyer before the energy ball had a chance to connect with him.

Paige had orbed Andy to the park. They fell to the ground as they landed.

'Sorry about the messy landing,' said Paige. 'My mind was on getting you out of there, rather than on going anywhere in particular.'

'You need to send me back,' said Andy, determinedly. 'Rodriguez could kill your sisters.'

'They will be fine,' said Paige. 'I need to get back there and help them.'

'So I have to walk back?' said Andy.

Paige threw Andy Prue's car keys. 'You can drive back in Prue's car. I made her leave it here when I orbed her back to the manor earlier.'

Andy caught the keys and nodded, slightly irritated that he could not remain part of the battle.

Paige orbed back to the foyer. Rodriguez was tied to a chair in the foyer. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Leo were standing around him.

'Hey Paige,' said Prue, looking up when Paige appeared in the room. 'Thank you for saving Andy.'

Paige smiled. 'I could not exactly let my future brother-in-law die, could I?'

Paige did not realise what she had let slip until after she had let it slip.

'Oops, did I say too much?' said Paige guiltily.

'You and Andy are getting married?' said Phoebe excitedly.

'Oh my gosh, Prue, why did you not tell us?' said Piper happily.

'Let's not discuss it until this is all over,' said Prue seriously, gesturing to Rodriguez.

Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Leo nodded. They all turned back to Rodriguez.

'We are lucky I did not accidentally blow you up,' said Piper.

'I am willing to bet that your death somehow triggers the time loop,' said Phoebe.

'I am impressed. I was told you would not know that,' said Rodriguez.

'Really? By who? Tempus?' said Phoebe. 'Yeah, we know about him too, and we also know you are not him or you would have restarted the day by now.'

Paige giggled silently and whispered to Prue and Piper, 'She is really good at this interrogating stuff.'

'She had loads of practice as a teenager,' whispered Piper. 'The number of times that she was interrogated by a policeman for shoplifting.'

'At least she learnt something from her days as a rebellious teen,' whispered Prue.

Phoebe had finished interrogating Rodriguez with no success. She took her sisters and Leo to another corner of the room.

'What are we going to do? He won't crack. He won't tell me how to find Tempus, or how to stop the day from being reset,' said Phoebe.

'Did you say that you found a spell that would accelerate time?' asked Leo.

Prue snapped her fingers. 'That's it!'

Prue whipped her hand out to bring the Book to her telekinetically. The Book went flying at her at full force. Prue fell backwards as she caught it.

Leo and Piper helped Prue to her feet.

Prue laughed. 'I don't know my own strength.'

They found the page which had the spell that would accelerate time on. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige recited the spell together:

'_Winds of time gather 'round,_

_Give me wings to speed my way._

_Rush me on my journey forward,_

_Let tomorrow be today._'

They watched as the clock face on the grandfather clock sped forward until it reached one minute past midnight.

'And we have a new day,' said Prue smiling.

The living room had gone dim, most likely due to the fact that it was now approximately midnight. Piper walked over to the wall to press the light switch. Nothing happened. The lights did not turn on. The only light entering the room was coming from a flickering source outside.

Paige looked at the chair that Rodriguez had been tied to. The chair was empty.

'Er, guys, where has Rodriguez gone?' asked Paige.

'Where did Leo go?' asked Piper.

Paige looked up and noticed that the four of them were standing alone in the foyer.

Phoebe had gone over to the window to see what the flickering light was. She was looking outside. She turned around to look at Prue, Piper, and Paige.

'Is this the first time that all four of us have said a spell together?' asked Phoebe. Her face was mostly in shadow, as the source of flickering light was behind her. Therefore, Paige could not read Phoebe's expression to match it up with Phoebe's serious tone.

'I think so,' said Prue. 'Why?'

'I think the spell being said by all four of us may have accelerated time a little too far…' said Phoebe.

Slowly, Prue, Piper, and Paige approached the window. They looked outside.

The houses opposite were a smouldering wreck. The fires being the source of flickering light. The sky was dark and ominous. Demons were walking the streets.

* * *

**A/N: **Did I say that this would be the last chapter? Oops. I changed my mind at the last second. As I wrote the part with them reciting the spell, I realised it was the first time that all four sisters were reciting a spell at once. Therefore, there had to be an issue with it. Oh, and as to their power advances in this chapter: Prue had the advanced telekinesis that she has in _Morality Bites_ (Well done to _Funnie_ for guessing that one correctly); Piper had her explosion power again (I have never read the comics, and probably never will get the chance to, so I could not use a power advance from those); Paige finally advanced her orbing power. As to Phoebe, you will find out what her power advancement is in the next – and final – chapter. Your guesses are welcome. Please review!


	58. Deja Vu All Over Again(And Displacement)

**A/N: **I had not even thought about the evil Wyatt future; not that that matters because this is not that, nor would that be possible. Now for the final chapter of _Paige Wyatt meets the Halliwells_…

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Eight: Déjà Vu All Over Again (And Displacement)**

Someone cleared their throat. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige turned away from the window to face the living room. A demon must have shimmered into the manor while they had been busy staring outside, because a demon now stood before them. He snarled at Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. An energy ball formed in his hand.

Prue made a motion with her arm. The demon went flying through the wall of the manor, only landing on his back when he was outside.

'Okay, so maybe your power development spell was a good idea,' admitted Prue.

'Thank you,' grinned Paige.

'Hang on,' said Piper. 'Where's the Book?'

The four sisters looked around the floor. The Book was not there. That is when they noticed that the carpet looked very torn and dirty. They looked at their surroundings. The walls were dirty. The furniture was dirty and dusty. It looked like no one had lived in the manor for years.

'At least the demons did not burn this place down,' said Phoebe, comparing it to the other houses in the street.

'Why did they not burn it down?' asked Piper. 'Surely we are their prime target.'

'When do you think we are?' asked Paige.

'I don't know, but I have to find Andy,' said Prue.

'Prue, we don't even know how far forward that spell sent us,' said Piper. 'Andy may not even still be around if we are centuries into the future.'

'Andy wouldn't be, but Leo would – providing he never clipped his wings,' said Paige. 'Leo!'

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe nodded. Each of them also called for Leo.

'Leo!'

Leo orbed into the foyer. He was not clean shaven – his face was stubbly. Although he still looked the same age as when they had last seen him, it looked as if his eyes had aged. He went pale when he saw who had been calling him.

'Paige? Piper? Prue? Phoebe?' said Leo in shock.

'Leo,' said Piper, rushing to hug Leo.

Piper kissed Leo, but Leo did not kiss her back.

'Leo?' said Piper, stepping back, confused by his coldness towards her.

Paige hugged Leo. This was not strange to Prue, Piper, or Phoebe at all, because they knew that Paige and Leo were like family to one another. However, Leo pushed Paige away.

'Leo?' said Paige, wondering what was wrong.

'Leo, what happened?' asked Prue.

'It depends on whether you are referring to the last time I saw you or what happened out there,' said Leo coldly.

'What happened in general?' asked Phoebe.

Leo grabbed Phoebe's hand. Phoebe gasped. She had been sent into a premonition. Phoebe was thrown to the ground by her premonition, dragging Leo with her as he was still holding her hand. Leo tried to remain on his feet by letting go of Phoebe's hand. Phoebe dropped to the floor.

Prue scowled at Leo. She knelt down by Phoebe.

'The Leo we know would never have let Phoebe fall to the floor,' said Prue. 'He would have at least made sure she landed softly.'

'The Leo you _knew_ is gone,' said Leo.

'So we have noticed,' said Piper, staring at Leo with teary eyes.

Phoebe let out a gasp as she came back to consciousness. Piper and Paige got down next to Prue, so as they could talk to Phoebe.

'Phoebe, are you okay?' asked Piper. 'What did you see?'

Phoebe was trying to get her breath back. 'I… finally… figured… out… my… power… development…'

'You saw what your power development caused by the spell was in your premonition?' said Paige.

'No…' Phoebe paused to take a deep breath. She had her breathing back in check. 'My power development was within my premonition. I was there, but not there, seeing it happen for myself.'

'An astral vision…' Paige muttered under her breath.

'Seeing what happen?' asked Prue.

'The moment that we said the time acceleration spell we disappeared,' said Phoebe. 'Leo was flustered at our disappearance, but decided to orb Rodriguez elsewhere. My… did you say astral, Paige?'

Paige was shocked. She did not realise she had been overheard by anyone before. Paige nodded.

'You took on an astral form that went into the past – well, not our past… it was the future that we left behind… Er, you get what I mean,' confirmed Paige, shrugging off the time travel confusion.

'My astral self followed Leo,' continued Phoebe, smiling faintly at Paige for the additional terminology. 'Leo orbed Rodriguez to purgatory which is in the underworld and then went looking for us in the underworld because he could no longer sense us, so he thought we must have been sent there. Leo went straight to Tempus. Tempus' minions imprisoned Leo and tortured him. Tempus realised that his plan had succeeded. The Charmed Ones were not dead, but they had disappeared from time itself.'

'Then what?' asked Prue.

'I woke up and I was lying on the ground with a headache,' said Phoebe.

'Thank Leo for that,' said Paige.

Phoebe slowly sat up and rubbed the back of her head. Leo was staring at the sisters angrily.

'Tempus knew you four had disappeared. Rather than killing me, he decided to keep me down there, to torture me. Tempus took over the surface world. Now demons overrun the place. He made sure that no demon touched the manor because he knew that one day you four would reappear,' said Leo.

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige exchanged looks.

'Andy…' said Prue. 'I left him behind… I abandoned him… How long must he have waited for me before giving up?'

No one answered Prue's question because each of them were busy contemplating the life they had left behind.

'The only thing I left behind was… you,' Piper muttered to herself as she watched Leo. 'The life that we could have had together… Maybe we could have married, had kids… You waited for so long and now you hate us… you hate me for abandoning you…'

'What did I leave behind? I had no one special in my life… I had no job… The only difference between this future and our present is that evil reigns now…' whispered Phoebe. 'I need to sort my life out.'

'Dad…' thought Paige. 'You have been through so much to find us. You were left behind to fix our mistake, but our mistake was so big that it landed you in trouble. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe may blame themselves, but this is my fault.'

* * *

Each of the sisters were lost in their own thoughts, either blaming themselves for this future or thinking about the people they left behind. The silence was only broken when Paige thought of something that did not connect.

'If you were trapped in the underworld, how were you able to hear us calling for you just now?' Paige asked Leo.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe turned to Paige quizzically.

'Oh, white lighters cannot sense their charges from the underworld, because they are technically not allowed to be in the underworld in the first place,' explained Paige.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe nodded in understanding. The four sisters turned back to Leo, waiting for a response.

'That impracticality was revoked when Tempus broke through to the surface world,' said Leo. 'Plus Tempus released me the moment he knew you four had reappeared.'

'So Tempus knows we are back?' asked Phoebe.

'That is what I just said,' said Leo bitterly.

'Leo, do you think we abandoned you?' asked Piper, melancholy in her voice.

'No,' said Leo. 'The issue was that your spell was skewed by the four of you saying it at once.'

'Then why are you being so bitter towards us?' snapped Prue.

'That's what happens when the world has been under demonic rule for eighty years,' said Leo.

'Eighty?' said Paige.

'What are you deaf now?' said Leo crudely. 'Yes, I said eighty.'

'Leo, if you are going to stand there and moan at us you may as well orb away,' said Prue. 'The only pessimist allowed around here is Piper. At least she does not offend people when she is being a pessimist.'

Leo glared at Prue before orbing out.

'What are we supposed to do now?' asked Paige.

'Well, we know how to vanquish Tempus, don't we?' said Prue, looking at Phoebe.

'The Book said something like take him out of his time,' said Phoebe. 'I still do not understand what it meant though.'

'Well, it is the best option for us right now,' said Prue. 'Maybe if we vanquish him, we could be sent back to our own time.'

'That makes no sense,' said Piper. 'He had no part in sending us forward in time, so why would vanquishing him send us back?'

'Actually Piper, he did play a part in all of this. He was the reason we were forced to say the acceleration spell,' said Paige. 'So if we take him out of his time… that would mean that he was never able to put us in that time loop in the first place, because he was never within time itself.'

'I think I am actually starting to understand this,' said Phoebe. 'So if we take him out of his time, he would never have put us in that time loop, so we would never have said the spell that sent us into this future.'

'I think I get this now,' said Piper. 'So if we were never sent into this future, we never disappeared, so no demon would ever have taken over.'

'Exactly,' said Prue smiling.

'The only issue is figuring out how to take Tempus out of the time which he is in,' said Piper.

'We will focus on finding Tempus first,' said Prue.

'That won't be an issue…'

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige turned around to see a man standing behind them.

'Tempus, I presume,' said Prue.

Tempus smiled. 'I see my reputation proceeds me. Prue Halliwell, I presume.'

'I see my reputation proceeds me,' said Prue.

'So the Charmed Ones have finally returned,' said Tempus. 'How do you like the future?'

'I quite prefer the present,' said Prue.

'I will give you a choice. Either return to the present and relive that day one more time – well, as many times as I keep resetting it – or stay in this miserable future,' said Tempus.

'Easy. I choose the time loop,' said Prue. 'I am sure my sisters agree with me.'

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige nodded. They knew that if they returned to the time loop, Phoebe would remember everything, and they would know to say the 'to accelerate time' spell – They would also know not to have all four of them say it at once.

'Are you sure? There is a catch,' said Tempus. 'Whichever choice you make, Phoebe Halliwell must remain in this future.'

'Why?' said Prue.

'I know that Phoebe's power of premonition will allow her to remember,' said Tempus. 'I know that you will use that to your advantage and one of you will just say the 'to accelerate time' spell again.'

'Then we stay,' said Prue adamantly.

'We would never leave our sister behind,' said Piper unwaveringly.

'We would rather all die in the future than die in separate times,' said Paige resolutely.

'Thank you,' Phoebe whispered to her sisters.

Prue, Piper, and Paige smiled at Phoebe.

'Suit yourself,' said Tempus.

Tempus sat down on the sofa.

'You are not even going to try attacking us?' said Prue.

'I have all power over time,' said Tempus. 'I am passive.'

'Passive, yet you let the world be destroyed?' said Piper with a hint of irony in her voice.

'I may be passive, but I enjoy chaos,' said Tempus. 'Why else would I manipulate time?'

Piper flicked her hands at Tempus. Tempus clicked his fingers and nothing happened.

'You were supposed to explode,' said Piper.

'I manipulate time, Piper Halliwell,' said Tempus. 'I displaced your attack, sending it into the future.'

Tempus stood up and walked over to the dusty cabinet. The sofa he had previously been sitting on suddenly exploded.

'I guess he only meant a minute into the future then,' Phoebe muttered to her sisters.

Tempus opened the dusty cabinet and pulled out a dusty ornament. Prue made a motion with her arm. Tempus clicked his fingers and sneered as he turned to face them again.

'Did you not learn from Piper's attack that attacking me is pointless?' said Tempus.

'The only thing that can vanquish him is to take him out of his time, remember?' Phoebe said.

Tempus laughed. 'Have fun trying to figure that one out. I assume the witch that wrote that entry had no idea how to do it either, or she would have been more concise than that.'

Tempus then pulled a small black box out of the cabinet. He opened it. It was a ring. He took the ring out of the box.

Prue and Paige knew that it was Prue's engagement ring. By the looks of Piper and Phoebe's expressions, they had realised what it was although they had not seen it before.

'That belongs to Prue!' said Phoebe.

Phoebe ran at Tempus in order to grab the ring. Tempus flamed to the other side of the room. Phoebe was now standing where Tempus had been standing when Prue had sent her telekinetic attack. The displaced attack suddenly made its reappearance as Phoebe felt the full force of it. She was thrown through the cabinet. The attack was so strong that it also sent her through the wall behind the cabinet into the front garden.

Paige orbed into the front garden and dropped to the grass by her sister's body.

'Phoebe!' said Paige.

Prue and Piper came running outside.

'I killed Phoebe!' cried Prue.

'You did not kill her, Prue,' said Paige.

'Yes I did. It was my telekinetic attack that threw her through that cabinet and wall,' said Prue, talking quickly and struggling to take breaths between words due to her panic and guilt.

'No, Prue, you did not kill her,' said Paige.

'Yeah, you did not kill her,' agreed Piper. 'That attack was meant for Tempus. It is not your fault that he displaced it. It is not your fault that Phoebe ran to that exact spot.'

'No, Piper, that is not what I meant,' said Paige. 'Phoebe is not dead. Prue did not kill her.'

Paige could feel Phoebe's pulse. Phoebe was out cold and her pulse was slowing down, but she was still breathing… for now. Prue burst into tears and hugged Phoebe's unconscious body.

'Leo!' called Piper. 'Leo! I don't care how much of a bitter jerk you are! Get down here now and heal Phoebe!'

Leo orbed into the front garden. He saw Phoebe and ran to her aid. Prue moved out of the way. Leo hovered his hand over Phoebe, producing a golden glow. Phoebe sat up and gasped for air.

'Phoebe!' Prue, Piper, and Paige all cuddled Phoebe.

'Can't breathe!' said Phoebe, struggling to breathe under the tightness of three people hugging her at once.

Her sisters released her.

'Sorry, we thought we lost you,' said Piper.

'I think I know how to defeat Tempus,' said Phoebe.

'Being flailed through a cabinet and wall helped you to figure it out?' said Paige, raising an eyebrow.

Phoebe laughed. 'No. Being thrown into an astral vision did though.'

'Oh, what did you see?' asked Piper.

'I saw us – that includes you, Leo – tricking Tempus,' said Phoebe. 'We need to trick him with the help of some past knowledge.'

'It's your plan,' said Prue, waiting for more details.

Phoebe told them her plan. Then they set to work.

* * *

Paige orbed into the living room of Halliwell manor. Tempus was sitting on the sofa – not the one that Piper had blown up. He smiled when he saw Paige.

'Ah, Paige Matthews, I thought you would return. Although I was expecting your sisters to be with you,' said Tempus.

'Prue and Piper are with Phoebe,' said Paige coldly.

'Ah, Phoebe Halliwell. How is she? That is quite a powerful power that Prue has,' said Tempus. 'I would not expect Phoebe to have survived… unless Leo Wyatt got there in time.'

'Look, Tempus, when you suggested that deal earlier about choosing between this future and the present… Did we all have to make the same choice?'

'You want to leave your sisters here, and return to the present by yourself?' said Tempus. 'I think I could allow that.'

'No. I want you to send Prue back to the present,' said Paige. 'She has a fiancé to return to.'

Tempus smiled. 'This is not Prue's choice though, is it?'

'She would never admit it, because she has been brought up to protect her family before thinking about herself,' said Paige. 'I know that she would rather be sent back to the present.'

'You realise that Rodriguez would probably end up killing her if I do send her back?' said Tempus.

'I know,' said Paige. 'At least she would be able to see Andy one last time though.'

'Love. A concept that I will never understand,' sighed Tempus. 'I will send Prue back. Bring her here.'

Paige nodded. 'Prue!' she called through the gaping hole in the wall.

Prue came running into the living room, via the gap in the wall.

'Paige! Are you okay? What's going on?' said Prue. Then she saw Tempus and scowled. 'Tempus? You are still here? Get out of our house! Don't you have somewhere better to be since you rule the world?'

'What? And miss out on seeing my enemies fall?' said Tempus smiling.

'What do you want?' asked Prue.

'I am accepting your sister's request, Prue,' said Tempus.

'I don't think so,' said Prue.

Prue telekinetically threw Paige's beeper at Tempus. Tempus slowed it down and then grabbed it. He looked at the beeper.

'Your plan was to throw some electronic device at me?' said Tempus. 'Not the sort of plan I would expect from the Charmed Ones. I would have expected something smart.'

Leo orbed in with Piper and Phoebe. They had orbed in right next to Prue and Paige. Piper had a container in her hands. Phoebe dropped a lit match into the container and its contents set alight.

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige exchanged looks. It was time. They began to chant:

'_Outside of time, outside of gain!_

_Know only sorrow! Know only pain!_'

Tempus looked extremely surprised. Their attack had been extremely unexpected and Tempus could feel the curse taking an effect upon him. He disappeared and the beeper fell to the floor.

'Thanks, Paige, for distracting him with some random story about wanting Prue to be sent back, while I orbed around San Francisco collecting ingredients for the curse,' said Leo.

'We were lucky we were able to make the potion up before Tempus figured out that you were a decoy,' said Piper.

Paige shrugged. All she could do was stare in awe at the beeper on the floor. 'Did we just succeed at vanquishing Tempus?' asked Paige.

'I think we did,' said Piper. 'Or we at least cursed him into that beeper.'

'I cannot believe Phoebe's idea worked,' said Prue.

'Hey! I believed it would work because I foresaw us doing it,' said Phoebe.

'Yeah, but I would never have thought of using the curse that we had used on Matthew Tate,' said Prue.

'So does this mean that if someone with Halliwell blood ever tries to take that beeper apart, Tempus will be released?' asked Paige. 'I mean that is what happened when Prue opened the locket that Matthew Tate was cursed into…'

'It does sound like a possibility,' said Leo. 'Time should reset back to just before you said the acceleration spell any moment now. Hopefully the beeper will be lost in this future. Since this future will cease to exist, you should never have to worry about a descendant ever finding the beeper.'

As quickly as time had accelerated, time reversed. The manor was suddenly whole again and clean. Leo (clean shaven – their Leo) stood next to them, Rodriguez was tied to a chair, and Prue was holding the Book of Shadows open to the 'to accelerate time' page.

'I will be the one who abstains from saying the spell,' offered Paige.

'No, I will,' said Phoebe.

'I don't mind not saying it,' said Piper.

'I will just say it by myself then,' said Prue shrugging.

'_Winds of time gather 'round,_

_Give me wings to speed my way._

_Rush me on my journey forward,_

_Let tomorrow be today._'

Prue finished reciting the spell. They watched as the clock face sped up. It was after midnight.

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige glanced around the living room, fearing that the spell could have had the same result as the last time they had said it. However, Leo still stood next to them and Rodriguez was still tied to his chair.

'You did it!' said Leo. 'I am being called by the Elders. You can deal with Rodriguez without me.'

Leo orbed out.

'Do you think Leo remembers the time travel part?' asked Phoebe.

'Probably not,' said Prue. 'It was only the four of us who actually travelled in time. The Leo we met was a future version that now ceases to exist.'

* * *

Prue was undoing the rope, letting Rodriguez go. However, Rodriguez tried to attack them again, so Prue redirected his energy ball and he burst into flames.

Piper flinched at the unexpected vanquish, causing her to accidentally blow up the grandfather clock.

'I don't think I am ready for this power yet,' said Piper. 'Please reverse your spell, Paige.'

Paige sighed. 'Fine.'

Paige picked up the Book of Shadows and found the reversal spell. She recited it.

'I liked being able to orb properly,' said Paige glumly.

'Well, you will be able to soon… with practice,' said Prue.

'Practice is hard work. That's no fun,' said Paige.

'You know what is fun?' said Phoebe smiling.

'What?' said Paige.

'A wedding!' said Phoebe. Phoebe smiled at Prue.

Prue blushed. 'Everyone survived the battle against Tempus… so I guess the wedding is on.'

'Who is going to be your maid of honour?' asked Phoebe. It was obvious to everyone in the room that Phoebe wanted to be chosen. It was also obvious to everyone in the room –except Phoebe – that Prue's first choice would always be Piper.

The doorbell rang, so Prue did not have to make it awkward for Phoebe by giving her a response.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige followed Prue into the foyer. Prue opened the front door. Andy was standing there.

'Hey. I returned your car like Paige asked me to,' said Andy.

Prue embraced Andy. Prue and Andy kissed.

'I have a question for you,' said Andy, looking at Prue after they had finished kissing. 'Why did it take me approximately six hours to drive from the park to here? A drive that only usually takes five minutes, and only felt like it took five minutes.'

'Oh, I hope our time acceleration spell did not cause any suspicions that could lead to magic being exposed,' said Piper, concerned.

'There is nothing that can lead that time leap back to us,' said Phoebe reassuringly.

'Let's only worry about that if people do suddenly lead it back to us,' said Paige. When she saw Piper's alarmed demeanour, Paige added, 'Not that they will.'

Andy looked at Piper, Phoebe, and Paige, before looking back at Prue.

'I just counted, and there are three sisters standing there. You are standing in front of me, _and_ I believe that I am standing here,' said Andy smiling at Prue.

Paige saw that Piper and Phoebe had confused expressions on their faces. Paige believed the expression on her own face must have mirrored theirs. Prue only smiled at Andy.

'I know,' said Prue. 'You know what that means.'

'Can someone tell us?' asked Piper.

Andy laughed. 'We have something to announce. Prue said that we would only announce it if everyone survived.'

Paige nodded, remembering hearing that part of the conversation when she had eavesdropped earlier.

Andy cleared his throat and put his hand around Prue, bringing her closer to him.

'We have an announcement to make. Prue and I are…' Andy paused on the end for dramatic tension.

Paige hoped that her expression was not giving away that she already knew what Andy was about to say. Paige glanced over at Piper and Phoebe. Piper was holding her hand over her mouth, probably trying not to give away a telling smile that she already knew. Phoebe, however, was standing there smiling, not even thinking about hiding that she knew.

'Prue and I are…' repeated Andy, once again adding suspense – although it was not suspenseful because everyone already knew. '…engaged.'

Andy looked from Piper to Phoebe to Paige, trying to absorb their responses.

'Oh!' said Piper, not very good at feigning surprise. 'This is such a surprise! This is amazing!'

'Wow! I never expected that,' said Phoebe, trying to hold in giggles – which she was not doing a very good job at.

'Congrats,' said Paige, figuring that the less she said, the less her tone would give away that this was not news.

However, Andy was not stupid. 'You already knew?' He turned to Prue. 'I thought we were keeping this a secret? You told them anyway?'

Prue smiled. 'I didn't. My noisy baby sister did.'

Andy smiled at Prue. 'I am just glad that you are going to be my wife.'

'Are you sure you want to be related by law to those three though?' asked Prue, pointing at Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.

'Good point. Can we call this off?' joked Andy.

Prue swatted Andy playfully. Looking behind Andy, Prue must have noticed that the front door was still open. With a gesture of her hand, the open front door shut on its own.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't think it was ever going to be possible to write an entire season without the grandfather clock getting damaged. I hope you enjoyed and I hope the time travel stuff made sense. It will be interesting to see what happens with the season three finale considering Tempus actually got vanquished (or cursed into a lost electronic device) in my version of season one. Oh well, the season two premiere comes before season three. Season two will be set in a new story, because this one would just be too long otherwise. Keep a look out for the new story, which will be set in the season two plot of _Charmed_. It will be called _Paige Wyatt: Adopted By Leo_. The first chapter will be up within the next couple of days.

Please leave reviews for this chapter, the final chapter of _Paige Wyatt meets the Halliwells_.


	59. Plus An Epilogue

**A/N:** An epilogue. The contents of this epilogue was an idea provided by Yello13.

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**Plus An Epilogue**

Paige paced around the attic. It had been a few minutes since Prue and Andy had announced their engagement. Since it was technically gone midnight, everyone had decided to go off to bed.

However, Paige did not feel tired, considering it was technically only just gone six o'clock. She paced the attic, wall to wall, thinking about what had happened that day. It was not the terrible future or Tempus or even the bitter future Leo that was filling her mind with thoughts. It was the power development spell.

Paige had not tried orbing again since they had reversed it. She really wanted to be an anomalie to the reversal. She wanted to still be able to orb properly. However, her sisters were right. She would have to... practice. Paige was not patient enough. She wanted to be able to orb now.

'Stop it!'

Paige suddenly stopped pacing. It was obvious that her constant walking was quite loud on the floorboards and there were four people on the floor below that probably wanted to sleep.

Standing still was not something that Paige wanted to do. She wanted to orb. She was resolute that she was going to orb successfully at least once right now.

Paige closed her eyes. She took a deep breath.

Destination? Front porch.

Paige opened her eyes. She still stood in the same spot in the attic. That was not good enough. Paige closed her eyes again and continued. She had gotten to her fifty eighth attempt and still had not succeeded. Paige was not going to give up.

According to her watch it was only twenty past midnight. She was not going to go to sleep until she had been successful.

Paige closed her eyes for the fifty ninth time. She took a deep breath.

'Okay, just one more time... Front porch,' thought Paige.

Paige refused to open her eyes. She felt a cool chill around her. She heard leaves of bushes and trees rustling in the light breeze. Slowly Paige opened her eyes. She let out a smile as she surveyed the front garden of Halliwell manor from the front porch.

'Got it,' she thought.

Paige sat down happily on the top step of the porch steps, while surveying the empty street to make sure that no one saw. It was gone midnight after all. Most of their neighbours would not be up at that time of night.

When Paige found herself beginning to doze off on the cold porch step, she decided it was time to go back inside. Paige stood up and opened the front door - apparently someone ('Phoebe,' thought Paige, smiling) forgot to lock it.

Paige stepped inside the house, and looked back out at the quiet street. This was not where she had expected to end up: finding her real family, finding out that she was a witch _and_ a white lighter, finding out that she was the fourth Charmed One when there were only supposed to be three. The year had been full of surprises. Her sisters still had another surprise around the corner: Paige would have to tell them that she was Leo's adopted daughter soon.

With one final glance at the empty street, Paige shut the front door of the manor.

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**A/N:** Once again, the credit for the idea for this epilogue goes to Yello13. Plus the new story (second season) is now up. Look for it and read it. :) Thank you to all you awesome readers/reviewers.


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